


Home Among Warriors

by Khaleesi_0f_Trolls



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brodigies raised in Del Bar, Claudia doesn't learn dark magic, Dark Magic, Death of Characters, Everything is going downhill now, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khaleesi_0f_Trolls/pseuds/Khaleesi_0f_Trolls
Summary: When their parents divorce, Soren and Claudia's mother decides to take them with her back to Del Bar to be with her family. The two live a happy life for the next few years, until the night king Florian is assassinated and their whole world is flipped
Relationships: Claudia & Soren (The Dragon Prince), Claudia & Viren's Ex-Wife (The Dragon Prince), Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Soren & Viren's Ex-Wife (The Dragon Prince), Viren/Lissa (The Dragon Prince), Viren/Viren's Ex-Wife (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Keeping my children safe!"

Claudia scoots farther into the wagon, holding her brother and his toy dragon closely as their parents bickering escalates, their mother throwing things into the wagon (and making sure to avoid hitting the two children still seated in it) while shouting at their father.

"If you take one step towards that wagon and leave with the children, I'll make you regret it!" She hears her father yell. She hears what sounds like a blade being drawn and peeks out from the wagon to see her mother pointing her sword at her father, the sharp end pointed dangerously close to his throat and an enraged expression she'd never seen her wear before.

"If you even take one step closer to that wagon and touch the children I will make  _ you _ regret it." She snarls, pushing the sword closer and causing her husband to step back a few steps to avoid getting stabbed. Claudia watched as her mother edged back towards the wagon, her blade still out in front of her as she climbs into the front seat of the wagon. “Claudia, Soren, come sit closer to the front.”

Claudia feels her brother grab her hand and tug her towards the front of the wagon where their mother sat and hugged her to his chest. She's watching her father, wondering what he'll do. Harrow is out in the courtyard as well, watching from the side with a worried expression before he steps forward to put a hand on her father's shoulder, murmuring something to him that causes his shoulders to sag and for him to step back a few feet. She hears the flick of the reins and feels the wagon jerk forward before they start moving.

"Mama, where are we going?" Soren asks his mother as they are making their way to the gates.

"Del Bar, we can't stay in Katolis." She responds curtly before letting out a tired sigh. "Its best if your father and I are far apart,  _ very  _ far apart right now."

"Why can't daddy come with us?" Claudia asks and hugs the dragon toy tightly.

"Because he and I need some time to be away from each other, and I don't want you two to be near him during that time."

"But daddy promised to teach me magic!"

Claudia was very sure she saw her mother stiffen at the words before relaxing. Was she upset?

"You don't need to love, it's nothing but trouble." Her mother responds. "Are you excited to see your cousins again? Your uncle Raul sent me a letter a while back telling me that his wife was going to have a baby soon, so maybe by the time we get there you can get to meet your new cousin. And your grandparents will be so happy to see you two again!"

Claudia tried to think back to her mother's family. She was very little when they last visited, and didn't remember anything. Soren probably remembered, he loved mentioning how the last time they ever went to Del Bar he went sledding with someone and got a tooth knocked out when he crashed into a small tree. And Del Bar was apparently quite cold, was there going to be snow when they got there?

"Bjorn is gonna scare me again with his spooky stories!" Soren states with a frown, pulling the dragon from Claudia to hug to his chest. "And I don't want him stealing Mister Flameo and throwing him onto the roof!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Sigrid will make sure of that herself and give him a good beating." Their mother assures him, releasing the reins with one hand to turn around and ruffle Soren's hair. "You know, she's working on getting into the crownguard. If you still want to be a crownguard member, you can ask her and some of your uncles to help you train so you can get in."

Claudia almost laughs at the sight of her brother's face lighting up, as if someone had just given him a platter of hot jelly tarts and told him he could have them all.

"What about me mama? What can I do in Del Bar if I can't learn magic?" She asks and her mother looks back at her with a wide smile.

"Well there's lots of things you can do. Maybe you can learn to train horses for the army, like your grandmother. Or you can train with your brother and cousin to be part of the crownguard, or maybe if you don't feel like doing something with weapons you can take up learning to be a doctor to heal people and save lives. We have a pretty big family who have various kinds of jobs, I'm sure they'll be happy to try and teach you two so you could have it as a job or a skill to use later in life."

"How long until we get to Del Bar? Cuz I wanna see Sigrid so I can start my training!" Soren asks excitedly.

"Soon enough my little ones, soon enough."


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh you've both grown so much! Aren't they such adorable children, Ulf?"

Soren really wished his grandmother would stop pinching his cheeks, they were really starting to hurt. Last time he saw his grandmother she had less grey in her hair, but she still had the same warm smile and smelled like that weird polish his mother would use on her horse saddle to keep it from getting messed up. His grandfather was seated in a chair, his dark green eyes studying him and Claudia like he was trying to decide whether or not to hug them or something.

"I'm hungry!" Claudia states loudly, tugging on their mother's pants leg.

"Don't worry dear, Talia is whipping up a delicious soup that should be ready any minute now, you three arrived just in time for dinner." Their grandmother laughs as she looks to their mother. "Lissa my dear, I am so sorry for what happened, but you did the right thing in coming here."

"It's alright mother, Viren and I needed a break from each other and I didn't want to leave the children behind." She says with a small smile. "Besides, they haven't seen their cousins in a few years, it'd be unfair for them not to see them again."

"Sigrid said she was going to smack Bjorn if he started with his stupidities." Their grandfather says and shakes his head. "I swear that boy needs to stop picking on his younger cousins, one of these days one of them is going to punch him in the face and then he'll be sorry."

"That's gonna be Soren." Claudia giggles and Soren grins. “Can we go outside?”

“I believe the other children will be outside as well, you’ll probably catch Sigrid and Magnus out there.” Their grandmother says with a smile. “Just be careful, sometimes if a snowball game is going on they can get a bit intense.”

“Okay!” Claudia grabs her brother’s hand and pulls him to the door. “We’ll be super careful!”

“And keep your jackets and gloves on! We can’t have either of you getting sick!” Lissa yells after them.

“Just as protective as your father when you were their age.” Her mother laughs as the children bolt out the door. “He was always forever trying to keep you and Raul from bolting out the door in your nightclothes to jump into the fresh snow, makes me wonder if he’ll still be doing that.”

“I’m sure he will, he’s been like that with Magnus and Sigrid ever since they could walk, so he’ll still be like that with my children and his new grandchild. And speaking of my big brother, where is he?”

“At home looking after the newborn, little Gisli is so cute, she reminds me of Claudia when she was a baby! And don’t worry, Sigird is old enough to supervise the children, so Soren and Claudia won’t have to worry about having no adult supervision.”

\---

“YOU HIT ME WITH AN ICE BALL THAT’S LOW SIG!”

“YOU THREW ONE AT THE KIDS YOU DUMB CLUCK! THAT’S RETALIATION!”

Soren really couldn’t help but laugh. Grandma Sigrid was right, the snowball fights did tend to get intense. Bjorn, one of the children of his mother’s cousins, had been throwing snowballs at the younger children and one had hit Magnus on the head. The five year old’s loud bawling had been reduced to sniffling and little hiccups thanks to Claudia’s attempts to calm him down, while his older sister retaliated by throwing a pretty solid snowball that turned out to be mostly made of ice at the teen. Of course, Bjorn deserved it, especially for what happened with Mister Flameo and the roof the last time they were in Del Bar."

“I didn’t know that it had ice in it, you knew when you threw one at me!” Bjorn snaps from his spot on the floor as Sigrid bends down to grab a handful of snow. “Hey rules say you can’t hit someone who’s already down! It’s unfair!”

“The game ended when Magnus got hurt, you’re lucky you didn’t give him a concussion!” The older teen retorts as she stands up. "You're already fifteen, you've got some issues if you find joy in picking on kids like that."

“I wanna go home!” Magnus yells loudly. “Sig can we go home? I’m hungry!”

Soren watches as his cousin looks back at her little brother, the snowball still in her hand before looking back at Bjorn. "Keep in mind, next time I won't hold back." She drops the snowball before turning to the three children and hurries forward to scoop up her little brother into her arms before grabbing Claudia by the hand. "Soren, let's go. Dinner should be ready and you're gonna need some of my mom's tasty soup to warm your tummy."

"I'm very hungry!" Claudia giggles as Soren hurries after them and grabs his sister's hand. "What's in the soup?"

"Surprise." Magnus responds before he buries his face into the fur of his sister's coat. "Is nana making the cocoa too?"

"We'll see, and even if she is you have to finish your dinner before you can have her horse biscuits." Sigrid chuckles.

"What's a horse biscuit?" Soren asks as they reach the house and climb up the wooden stairs of the porch.

"You'll see, and I think you two may like it." Sigrid responds again before putting Magnus down. "Alright try and shake as much snow off your boots, nana makes a huge fuss when we track even a flake of snow into the house and forget to leave the boots at the door."

The three children did as she asked, kicking and stomping their feet against anything to shake the snow off as best as they could before they followed the teen into the house. The second Sigrid shut the door behind them all Soren began helping Claudia remove her gloves and boots before he did the same for himself.

"Ma! We're back for some soup!" Sigrid yells as she helps him strip his coat off before helping Magnus.

"Dinner is already on the table, you kids made it just in time!" Soren hears his aunt say before she emerges into the living room. Aunt Talia had a sling hanging from her shoulder, a small wiggling bundle resting in it before Soren saw a tiny pale arm and hand stick out from it.

"Is that the baby?" Claudia asks excitedly as she and Magnus run forward to Talia. "Can I see? Can I see?"

"Gisli is a bit fussy right now, but she'll be fine when she gets fed." Their aunt laughs as she kneels in front of the children before Soren and Sigrid walk back to her. Gisli was a rather scrawny looking baby, a lot scrawnier than Ezran when he was born, and didn't seem to have so much hair on her head.

"Why she so scrawny?" Claudia asks as their aunt gets back up.

"She's only a few days old, but in a few weeks she won't be like that." Talia says with a chuckle. "If I remember right, your brother was pretty scrawny when your uncle and I went to visit your mother in Katolis."

"Yeah and look at me now!" Soren laughs as he and his cousins follow her into the kitchen. "And when I get older I'm gonna have big muscles!"

"The only way you'll get that is if you do twenty push-ups every day." Sigrid laughs as they enter the dining room where their family was waiting for them with what looked like round loaves of bread sitting in their bowls.

"Where's the soup?" Claudia asks as Sigrid pulls back three chairs to help her and Magnus climb into them before helping Soren.

"Surprise." Magnus giggled as their seats were pushed closer to the table.

“Did you kids have fun outside?” Lissa asks as they were all seated.

“We had a snowball fight! Bjorn hit Magnus a little too hard with his and he started crying like Callum when he fell down the stairs.” Soren says as his uncle enters the room with a covered pot. “And Sigrid looked ready to hit him!”

“I almost did but decided to take the high road and be the bigger person.” Sigrid states as the pot was placed on the table. “As a future soldier of the king’s crownguard I should pick my battles more carefully and know when to actually fight.”

“Good, that’s how all soldiers should be.” Their grandfather grunts as the lid is removed. “Your mother told me you wanted to be a crownguard too like her and your cousins, do you have what it takes Soren?”

“Yessir!” Soren yelled and slapped the table with one hand. “I was gonna be one for my daddy’s friend king Harrow but I wanna be a crownguard like mama and Sigrid!”

“Technically she’s a cadet and in training to climb up the ranks, but at least he has the spirit.” His uncle Raul chuckles as he pulls a ladle out of the pot. “Now, remove the top of your bread.”

“Don’t we have to remove the whole bread from the bowl?” Claudia asks as Magnus reaches over to pull the top of her bread off. “Hey it’s empty inside!”

“And now it’s full!” Magnus exclaims as his father pours some warm soup into the bowl.”

“Ooh you can do that?” Claudia gasps as her uncle pours some soup into her brother’s bowl before pouring some into Sigrid’s. “What kinda soup is this?”

“Bread bowl soup, the soup your aunt made is clam chowder.” Raul responds with a smile. “Specially made with some delicious clams off the coast of Del Bar.”

“I don’t really like clams.” Soren mumbles as his grandparents are having their bowls filled.

“Then you can’t have horse biscuits later if you don’t eat.” His grandmother warns. “Try it, you might like it.”

Soren watches as his sister takes a spoonful of the creamy soup and sticks it in her mouth. Claudia was quite a picky eater when it came to most foods, though she loved trying new things if she thought it looked interesting enough. The soup looked and smelled nice, but looks can be deceiving. Much to his surprise, Claudia took another spoon of the broth and another and another. Was it actually that good?

“Eat it Soren! It’s so yummy!” She exclaims excitedly. “And the clams are so good!”

“Try it with your bread, it tastes a lot better.” Sigrid adds, pointing with her spoon to the bread top they had removed to make the bowl. “Give it a try.”

“Is he a picky eater?” Talia asks as Soren grabs his piece of bread and dips it into the soup. “I can make him something else if he’s a picky eater.”

“Not really, he’s just a bit wary with new and unusual foods.” Lisa assures her. “If it tastes funny and he doesn’t like it, he won’t eat--”

“THIS IS GOOD!” Soren yells in excitement.

“Eat the contents of the soup then if you like the broth so much, you need your protein as well.” His grandfather says and points at the bowl with his spoon. “Don’t make your aunt feel upset because you don’t like her cooking, she didn’t spend years in the castle kitchens training with the best cooks to have a snot nosed child get picky over a bunch of shellfish.”

“Ulf, be nice.” His wife warns with a frown as Soren grabs his spoon and shoves it into his spoon before pushing it into his mouth.

“This is officially my favorite food now!” Soren declares happily.

“Mine too!” Claudia adds happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now crave clam chowder after writing this chapter


	3. Chapter 3

_ Katolis, a year later _

“And this is where you will be staying in the meantime, at least until we have your workshop set up. If there is anything you need, please let me know.” Viren says as he opens the door of a room to lead a man and a young girl inside. “Are there any specific items and supplies you’ll need for your job, Damian?”

“Mmm… probably a small stool for someone to stand on while I take measurements, maybe two work tables where we can do our work at. We already have some supplies like needles and threads, we'll just buy some new supplies if needed." The man says as he examines the room. "Otherwise we're alright for now."

"Daddy, how long are we gonna stay here?" The girl asks as Viren walks out. "I thought we were going to Duren."

"I know love, but I think we have a much better opportunity here than in Duren, don't you think?" Damian asks as he kneels to be level with her. "We're not only working for the king, but the entire kingdom as well. And we don't have to travel far either, you can easily make more friends here than in Duren."

"I wish grandaddy was here, and mama."

Damian smiles as he brushes back a lock of hair from his daughter's face. "I miss them too Enya, especially your mama. But you know why we had to leave home, we couldn't stay there anymore after what happened. At least here no one can blame our family for whatever bad thing happened, we're starting a new life here. And at least here, you won't have to hear snarky remarks from my snobby cousins and their children about the state of your clothes."

His daughter smiles as he stands and ruffles the top of her head. "Can I go exploring? I'll be right back!"

"Alright then, just be careful."

Enya grins before hurrying out the door, taking off down the hall opposite from where they came from. Viren mentioned there were some children in the castle who she could play with if she had no work to, children of the soldiers and servants, along with two of the king's own children who were much younger than her. She could at least familiarize herself with the layout of the castle so she wouldn't get lost while delivering and picking up clothes that were mended or had to be mended, and maybe make some friends-

"Aah!" She lets out a shriek as she crashed into something and toppled backwards onto the hard floor. "Oww…"

"I-I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Enya looks up to see a boy much younger than her getting to his feet and holding a hand out to her. "I was drawing and didn't see you, I'm very sorry!"

"It's my fault, not yours." Enya says as she takes his hand, pushing herself up so she wouldn't accidentally pull him down. "I should be apologizing. What were you drawing?"

"Bait!"

"What's a Bait?

The little boy picks up a book from the floor to hold it up, revealing a messy drawing of a lumpy looking salamander creature with a grumpy expression on its face. "He's my brother's pet!"

"Oh...is Bait a... salamander?" Enya asks, squinting at the drawing.

"Nope! He's a glow toad! He can change colors depending on his mood, he's in here, look!" The boy grabs her hand to pull her into the room he had walked out from.

The room inside looked like some kind of playroom or nursery with all sorts of stuff toys, some large chairs and small stools, tables covered with piles of paper and pencils, a large window to let the light in, and the walls were covered with multiple messy drawings. Sitting on a rug in the middle of the room was a small boy with the fluffiest hair Enya had ever seen, playing with a large yellow and blue animal that looked just as big as him.

"Ezran! Can I see Bait?" The boy asked as he hurried to the smaller boy. "Just for a minute?"

"Otay!" The toddler says as he lets the older boy take the creature. It lets out a loud croak as the boy holds him out for Enya to see.

"This is Bait! See, he's a glow toad, likes jelly tarts and head scratches!" The boy says with a grin. "He can't do much."

"Oh but glow toads have lots of practical uses if they're not being used for bait or pets." Enya gives a gasp as she turns to see a boy around her age standing in the doorway of the room. Something about his voice sends a chill down her spine, her instincts screaming at her to run or at least keep him from getting close to her.

"Bait is not for dark magic use Desmond! He's our pet!" The younger boy says as he stands behind Enya. His voice is trembling slightly, she could see the fear in his eyes as he is holding the toad creature to his chest.

"Well Bait obviously has his uses, but other glow toads can be used for many things, Callum." The boy, Desmond, sneers as he walks into the room. Enya's hand shifts behind her to grab the handle of her knife as she shifts herself to keep the two children and toad behind her. "And who's your new friend?"

"None of your business you creep." She states and yanks the knife out to hold it in front of her. "Leave them alone."

"You have a knife?" The boy, Callum, squeaks as he peeks out from behind her.

"Yeah, and I can use it." Enya says as she takes a step towards the boy.

"Desmond! Desmond where are you?" Enya quickly hides the knife behind her as lord Viren comes through the doorway. "There you are! Why aren't you studying?"

"I finished the entire book sir, I was simply coming in to see how the princes were doing." Desmond says as he walks back towards the doorway. "And I couldn't help but notice a stranger coming into the playroom, got me a bit worried."

Enya flinched as Viren's eyes land on her, expecting him to start scolding her until Callum and Ezran poke out from behind her.

"I was showing her Bait, I think he likes her." The little prince says quickly, the glow toad giving a grunt and turning a bright shade of orange as if to confirm his statement.

"Happy!" The younger boy who was holding Bait earlier exclaims.

"I see, well continue playing. And do be careful with the young princes Enya, especially Ezran." And with that, Viren and Desmond were gone.

"I don't get why lord Viren always tries to have him spend time with us, Desmond is weird!" Callum finally says when they were sure the two were gone. "He makes creepy remarks about magical creatures if we're reading a book on them, he stands in the shadows like a ghost and acts like we're dumb!"

"Mean!" Ezran agrees as he is handed back his glow toad. "Bait no like!"

"Don't you have any other friends to play with?" Enya asks with a small frown. "Lord Viren mentioned there were many other children in the palace I could play with if I was lonely, why don't you play with them?"

Callum gives a small shrug. "I used to have two friends, but they moved somewhere far away." He says sadly as he hands Bait back to his baby brother. "So...I don't have any friends."

"Well...I don't have any either, I just moved here." Enya admits. "If you'd like, I can be your friend and Ezran's too. I won't be able to play as much because I will be helping my daddy with his work, but when I have free time I can always come and play with you two."

Oh one would have thought she had told the little Prince that the winter holidays had come early from the way his little eyes lit up in excitement. Enya braced herself as Callum runs to her and hug her tightly around the waist, and she couldn't help but smile and hug him back. Ezran gave an excited noise before crawling over to them, still holding onto Bait, until he was hugging one of her legs. Guess making friends here would be easier than she thought.

\---

"More snow!" Claudia yells as Magnus tries packing his small snowball into a bigger one. "We gotta finish the snowman before lunch! Soren help us!"

"But I'm busy!" Her brother exclaims as he swings his wooden sword at the air, trying to mimic the way Sigrid would swing her real sword.

His cousin had promised him the other day that she'd train him, but because of her duties in the palace (which for some reason consisted of her having to babysit the oldest son and daughter of the king and physically try keep them from trying to murder each other) they could never find time to train together so he had to try and train himself. Other relatives such as his grandfather and a handful of his mother's cousins had offered to try and train him, since they had all had combat training and had either already served time in the army or were still in it, but Soren had insisted he wanted to be trained by Sigrid and only her. Some days he would settle for training with his mother or uncle Raul when they weren't busy, but other days he'd try and train himself with whatever he could remember from watching the soldiers back at home and here in Del Bar combat each other.

"You're no fun!" Claudia states and sticks her tongue out at him. "Fine, Magnus and I will make the snowman ourselves and you can't join in to help!"

“Snowman building is boring anyways!” Soren throws back at her before stabbing at the air again.

“Hey kiddos! Miss me?” A familiar voice calls out, drawing their attention.

“Sigrid!” The three children yell as the older teen approached them, still wearing her armor with a fur cloak thrown on over it and her helmet tucked under one arm.

“Are we gonna start my lessons right now?” Soren asks excitedly.

“Are you gonna help us build a snowman?” Magnus asks. “Soren was supposed to help but he didn’t want to!”

“Yeah he said snowman building was boring!” Claudia adds before sticking her tongue out at her brother.

“Because Sig is gonna show me how to fight like a real crownguard!” Soren argues.

“You really wanna learn don’t you?” Sigrid asks as the three kids crowd around her.

"Yeah because when I grow up I'm gonna be in the crownguard too!" Soren declares loudly as he thrusts his wooden sword into the snowman, earning upset protests from his little sister and younger cousin.

"Big talk for a little boy, but do you have what it takes?" Sigrid asks and Soren nods eagerly. "Because it isn't easy. Vigorous training is required, you can't get in on just skill alone. And the boot camp out in Del Bar is not so kind to everyone, you have to practically fight bears, wilderness survival during the snowstorm season, and apparently they also have to train you to know how to fight elves, especially the assassin ones."

Soren could already feel the blood drain from his face at that last bit. Elves were dangerous, and while he had never seen an elf before, he had a healthy dose of fear for them thanks to the scary stories one of their older cousins would tell the younger children. That and his father would tell him about how many times he narrowly died trying to retrieve ingredients for his magic spells while avoiding Sunfire, Skywing and even elusive Moonshadow elves.

"I'm...I'm not scared of some blood thirsty elf!" He states and yanks his sword out from the snowman. "I can take them! Even the Moonshadow and Sunfire ones!"

"Has Bjorn been telling you those dumb stories again?" Sigrid asks with a frown. "Elves don't drink blood Soren, just because they've missing fingers, have pointed ears, horns, magic and sometimes other weird features doesn't make them monsters."

"Eww, blood smells gross." Claudia gags as she is trying to repair the snowman. "I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who does that!"

"But daddy said they're evil and selfish." Soren points out.

"So are humans." Sigrid says with a shrug. "But enough talk about blood, I think Magnus and Claudia are going to be sick."

"Have you seen elves before?" Claudia asks Sigrid as her older cousin bends down to collect snow into her gloved hand.

"Yeah, my instructor actually took us on a trip to the border at Katolis a few weeks back and I actually came face to face with one." The teen responds, earning gasps from the children. "I was taking a walk along the area where the lava falls were when I saw one."

"What did it look like?" Magnus asks excitedly.

" _ He _ was a Sunfire elf, I was close enough to see he had the palest blue eyes I had ever seen, gold markings painted across his nose and on one cheek, and this fiery red hair that was pulled back in a braid and wore no armor but was carrying what looked like a sunforge blade. And he was just as surprised as I was when he saw me."

"Did you fight the elf?" Soren asks and his cousin shook her head.

"Nah, he just immediately turned and ran back the way he came. I did the same because one of my fellow cadets was calling out for me to come back."

"You didn't fight the elf?"

"I didn't even have my sword on me, just my knife strapped to my thigh. You think a weakling like me could take on a possibly jaded warrior like him?" Sigrid laughs as she holds up a misshapen snowball. "I'm not that dumb to take on an elf, I probably would have died or been taken prisoner."

"That's so boring Sig!" Soren states with a pout, earning another laugh from his cousin.

"That's being smart dummy, and I highly doubt I'll be fighting any elves considering how we have two kingdoms standing between us and Xadia for them to cross over." Sigrid says and smiles. "You know, I think someday this actually will stop. Maybe in a few years we'll be able to befriend elves again, and we won't have to worry about a war brewing."

"Uncle says it's impossible." Claudia pipes up. "Daddy said so as well, but mama says he's wrong about a lotta things."

“Yeah, like how dark magic is good." Sigrid scoffs as she stands up. "Alright enough sad talk, who wants to get the other cousins for a snowball fight before Granna calls us in for dinner?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More new characters coming up :D

_ Del Bar, six years later _

_ Seven years, has it really been that long?  _ Lissa wonders to herself as she looks out the window overlooking the castle's courtyard. She could see both her children outside; Soren helping with Florian's younger son practice his sword fighting, Claudia seated under a tree reading with her dogs laying all around her. The sight brought a smile to her face, once again feeling glad that she had made the right choice that day.

Over the years she'd often wonder if she made the right choice in tearing her children from their father, and time after time she'd remind herself that she made the right choice. If she hadn't taken them with her, Claudia would never have discovered how good she was with dogs and trained the finest hunting and sledding dogs Del Bar has boasted to have; Soren probably would still be working his way into the crownguard or taken up something his father thought was best instead of climbing the ranks so quickly within a few months after being initiated. And on top of that, they wouldn't have grown so close to all of her family if they had been staying in Katolis.

"Lissa? Lissa! Are you even listening?" Lissa snaps to attention to seeing the council looking at her, most of them looking quite annoyed while the others, including king Florian and his wife Ece looking at her in concern.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought Audin." She says as she steps away from the window and walks back to the large map table they were standing around. "So from what I've been hearing is that some of the towns and villages lying around our borders are having to deal with some bandits, we should probably send more soldiers to these places to deal with them."

"You know we can't spare so many soldiers, this is the capital of Del Bar and we need all of them to make sure there is order!" Councilman Audin points out.

"You make it sound like we can't spare even a small handful of specially trained soldiers to give aid to the people and be rid of the bandits." Queen Ece states with a frown. "Lissa is right, we should send soldiers in to at least defend the villages and towns near the border. And who knows, maybe the bandits are only stealing because they're from a very poor village in desperate need of supplies and haven't thought of coming to us for help."

"But we can't!" Audin tries to repeat.

"Your majesty, do remind me why your brother is a part of the council again?" Lissa says and rolls her eyes. "If he's not going to send soldiers to help the towns, I ask for permission to take some of my family to deal with the bandits ourselves."

She couldn't help but laugh at the angry face the queen's brother was making and the smug smile Ece was sending him.

"Permission granted Lissa, but do be careful." Florian says with a nod. "I'll have some soldiers go with your family to aid you at least. We have plenty of soldiers to spare."

"This is madness! You know we need every soldier guarding the capital after what happened with Thunder!" Audin snaps. "Who knows if Xadia decides they want to extract their vengeance on all of us, not just on Katolis!"

"You aren't even in charge of what goes on in our military, why do you care if we send a small handful of soldiers to the outskirts of Del Bar?" Ece asks with a frown. "Know what? I don't care, I have to check on Leif. Come Lissa."

The moment the two women were out of the throne room, Ece gives a frustrated groan and rubs her temples. "I swear, just being around my brother when we have council meetings gives me migraines and I just want to strangle him!"

"I'd love to, but I'd like to keep my job and not be sitting in a jail cell." Lissa agrees with a small laugh as they walk. "Though I'm sure your husband and the rest of the council would thank me for it."

"We're reaching our limit Lissa, one of these days it'll break. Actually mine will break because of how my children have been driving me up the wall."

"Well at least Soren and Claudia aren't trying to tear each other apart like the twins, they get along just as well as your daughters do.”

Ece gives a laugh. “Oh yes, I’m at least glad my two youngest daughters aren’t getting competitive or into petty squabbles over the littlest things. They’ll grow out of it eventually.”

Lissa rolls her eyes. “They better, they’re already well into their twenties. Gods help us the day Aric or Cira become the rulers and they’re still at it.”

The two women soon made it into the courtyard where their sons were practicing, little prince Leif jabbing his wooden sword at Soren while the older boy was dodging and blocking his flimsy attacks. About three of Claudia’s dogs immediately jump to their feet, baying and barking in excitement as they run for Lissa to surround her, begging her for a treat or some scratches under the chin.

“Oh hey mom! How did the meeting go?” Soren asks when he noticed his mother.

“Quite well, I should be leaving in a day or two with some family to deal with some trouble that’s been stirring near our borders.” Lissa responds as Leif drops his wooden sword to run to his mother.

“Mama mama! I stabbed Soren ten times!” The little prince exclaims as he grabs onto his mother’s leg. “And I even hit him in the face!”

“That explains the forming black eye.” Ece murmurs as Soren tries covering his injured eye. “Go to the physician, get that treated.”

“Better do it Sore-bear, queen’s orders!” Claudia laughs from her spot. “Hey mom, how long is this trip going to take?”

“Depends, probably two weeks at the most. Could I borrow one of you tracking dogs, Munchie was it?”

“Sure thing, she’s been eager to do some tracking that’s not just rabbits or raccoons.”

“They’ve grown well, I can hardly believe they’ve changed so much since the day you brought them here.” Ece says as Claudia takes Leif by the hand towards the infirmary with her dogs in tow. “Who would have thought Claudia would have become such a skillful trainer and Soren would have became one of the youngest members of the crownguard to hold a high rank.” 

“Better than what their father would have had planned for them, my ex husband actually had the nerve to tell me he was planning on teaching Claudia how to use dark magic properly just two days after what happened with her brother.” Lissa says with a scoff. “And he didn’t even want Soren to take part in the military, saying he was better off studying to be a doctor or something. Soren can’t even sit still to study, especially if it’s something he finds boring and it’s forced on him.”

“Well thank goodness Sigrid took up teaching him, otherwise he’d be stuck among the lower ranks. And a good thing Maria took Claudia under her wing to teach her something less dangerous than magic, she has such a way with dogs!”

“If Viren could see what they are doing now, he’d probably lose it.”

\---

“For the last time, no more “I ran into a wall” excuses, I know Leif whacked you in the face! Why do you have to lie about this?” Aeson snaps as he wrestles open a jar and dips two fingers into it. “I keep telling you to wear helmets, and you don’t even listen!”

“I hate getting helmet hair, and the helmets with the face guards smell awful!” Soren protests as the physician pulls his hand out of the jar with some bright purple gel and slathers it over his injured eye. “Ah! That’s gross!”

“Oh stop whining, if you want this to heal your eye properly then hold still!”

“Come on Soren, gotta make sure your face is in perfect shape!” Claudia laughs from one of the cots where she and Leif are seated at and watching.

“Am I in trouble Aeson?” Leif asks softly. “I didn’t mean to hit Soren in the face again…”

“No you aren’t, I’m more mad at this dummy for wanting to keep that silky hair of his perfect than protecting his face.” The physician assures him as he places the jar on a nearby table and places the lid on top before walking over to another table that had a large bowl seated on top. “Take that medicine, apply it to your face before you go to bed and avoid poking the bruise unless you wish to make it worse.”

“This stuff stinks.” Soren gags as he reaches for the jar.

“You look funny.” Leif giggles. “Like my kitty with that patch of orange on his black fur.”

“Is that going to stain?” Claudia asks as her brother makes a face before pocketing the small jar.

“Unlikely, but he will stink for a while.” Aeson responds as he is washing his hands. “Now, run along. I have an important date to get to and I am not showing up smelling like one of my ointments.”

“Oh? Who’s the lucky lad or lass?” Claudia asks as she helps Leif off the cot. “You know, of all seven year I’ve known you, you’d never struck me as the kind of guy to date.”

“I am full of surprises Claudia, just like everyone else.” Aeson says with a shrug. “And I’m not telling you who, it’s no one’s business.”

“We’ll find out eventually.” Soren mutters when the physician had left the room. “This stuff stinks, must I really put it on?”

“If Aeson says it’ll help with the healing process, it’ll help. He’s never been wrong about anything so far.” Claudia says with a laugh. “You just don’t want it because it smells and looks funny on your face.”

“Quit laughing, it’s not funny!”

“It is!”

“It is!” Leif agrees with a giggle. “Claudia, can we go back to my room to read? I really wanna finish that book!”

“You wanna finish reading  _ Love Amongst The Dragons _ ?” Claudia asks and the prince gives her an eager nod. “Sounds like a plan! Care to join us Soren?”

“You two go ahead, I’m just going to head home.” Soren says waving a hand dismissively.

“Well that’s fine, more characters for us to give voices to.” Claudia says with a shrug. “Come on Leif, we can have fun ourselves.”

\---

_ Katolis, outskirts of the castle _

"Unbind yourself! Unbind thyself! Unbind all!" Rayla yells at the silver ribbon she had been trying to remove all night. It had started feeling a bit tighter than earlier, and she knew sooner or later it was going to get too tight and cause some problems for her hand. She hears a croaking noise and looks over at the three humans to find both the weird frog creature they called Bait and the fluffy black and white dog one of them called Amaya, both staring at her with what looked like judgmental looks. “Don’t judge me! So what I’m talkin’ to my ribbon thing, how is that any worse than talkin’ to...whatever it is you are.”

The frog creature turned a funny purple color, keeping his gaze on Rayla before letting out another low croak and slipped his tongue out to lick an eye. She gags in disgust before turning away from them, looking to the large stone castle they had barely managed to escape from.

She could hardly believe what had recently happened, just this morning she had swore an oath with Runaan and the other four assassins, all ready to take the lives of the king and his youngest son as vengeance for what happened to the dragon king as his unborn heir. And all that came crashing down when the guard she was supposed to kill the other night showed up with several other soldiers in search of them, causing Runaan to remove her from the group and ordered her to stay put. And oh how well that worked. But she was actually glad she didn’t stay put like he asked, if she hadn’t she wouldn’t have ran into these three humans and found the egg of the dragon prince hidden in the underground chambers of some dark mage. They probably wouldn’t have made it out alive if one of the princes, Callum, hadn’t stolen a sky primal stone and used it to blow away the smokey wolves that were sent after them.

"No one is judging you, that's just the face he's permanently stuck with." Rayla looks back to the humans to find the girl, who called herself Enya, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What are you even doing?"

"Why do you care?" Rayla asks with a frown.

"Well I don't think I've heard anyone screaming about unbinding in the middle of the night to themselves, so it's a bit weird." Enya responds as she sits up, the frog hopping onto her knee. "Also yelling is probably going to draw attention to us, who knows if Viren had sent soldiers after us, they’d probably kill you in an instant the moment they see you."

Okay maybe this human had a point, but there was no way she was going to admit it aloud to her.

“You think we’ll actually be able to make it to the border without any problems?” Rayla asks, hoping to change the subject. “It took six of us less than a week to reach here.”

“Doubt it, we’re not as fast as you and we can’t risk dropping the egg.” Enya responds. “But if we can find faster routes to the border, we can get there quickly. Sadly we don’t have a map, but maybe we can find one later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to Floof on the Ser Snuggles discord server for helping with names for the listed members of the royal family! And while I am aware that it hasn't been revealed yet if Florian even has a spouse and children, it was fun adding them into the story and you will get to see more of them in future chapters
> 
> And a side note: fluffy Amaya doesn't really know what elves are, she just thinks they're odd looking humans that talk funny


	5. Chapter 5

“My king! A messenger owl just brought this!”

Florian looks up from his book as the messenger ran in waving a scroll in her hand, bearing a familiar red seal. He hands Leif, who was seated on his lap, the book he had been reading to him and his older sisters before accepting the letter and breaking the seal to read the contents.

“Papa? What’s the matter?” Lella asks her father as he is busy skimming over the letter.

“Nothing, can one of you three go get your mother?” Forian says as Leif slips off his lap.

“I can get her! Adessa is too slow!” The little prince says as he drops the book onto the floor before running to the door.

“I’m not slow!” Adessa yells after her brother and turns to her father. “Explain to us why you and mother decided to have another child like seven years ago?”

“Be nice to your brother.” Florian scolds as he gets up. “Thank you Rok, you are dismissed. Girls, head back to your room, I need to speak with your mother.”

“Why?” Lella asks with a frown as she and her sister stand up. “Is it something that has to do with the letter?”

“That’s from Katolis isn’t it?” Adessa adds, pointing to the letter Florian was gripping. “Did something happen?”

“You two don’t need to worry, just go back to your room, I’ll see you at dinner.”

Florian hurries out of the library before briskly making his way to his room. Ece is in there, pacing the floor in front of their bed before she notices him standing in the doorway. She wears a grim expression on her face before it softens and she hurries over to him.

“Dearest, what’s the matter?” She asks when she reaches him. “Leif came running into the courtyard to tell me you needed to see me after you got a letter, did something happen?”

“Harrow is dead.” Florian responds and his wife gasps. “Moonshadow assassins took his life for what happened to the king of the dragons, both his sons are still alive.”

“Oh ancients, those poor boys.” Ece says as Florian takes her hands and she grips them tightly. “It’s bad enough that they lost their mother so young, and now their father as well? Prince Ezran is too young to take on such duties!”

“Viren is the regent of the kingdom for now, I’m sure Katolis is in good hands for now until the boy is of age. He has sent a letter asking me and the other rulers to attend a Pentarchy meeting to discuss something important about our current relationship with Xadia.”

“Do you wish for me to go with you?”

Florian smiles softly before shaking his head. “No love, I’ll go. Do you think you can stay here and watch the kingdom for me while I’m away? While I trust your brother won’t do anything stupid, I’d rather have you on the throne keeping an eye on things. I did marry you because I knew you were the best one to take my place if anything was to happen to me, and because I loved you very much.”

Ece gives a soft laugh before bringing her husband’s hands up to her lips and gently kissed his knuckles. “You can count on me dear, I’ll make sure the twins don’t kill each other, or that my brother attempts some sort of coupe while you are away. Are there any specific guards you’d like for me to send with you to the Pentarchy?”

“Just a small group of the crownguard. And since Lissa is off on her mission to deal with the bandits, have her niece lead the guard protecting me.”

“I’m sure she’ll keep you safe, Lissa and I trained her ourselves so you will be in good hands.”

“I sure hope so.”

\---

Sigrid really hated that she had to be seated in some stuffy tent with the rest of the soldiers. Florian had warned her and the other two soldiers who were accompanying him that they wouldn’t be allowed in the meeting room with him, due to the rules that no weapons of any kind or were allowed where he was going and they’d had to wait outside during the time he was away. She didn’t even bring a book to entertain herself with, and she really didn’t feel like chatting with the other soldiers from the three other kingdoms right now.

“Hey, is it true that your uncle is now the regent of Katolis?” She hears one of her fellow guards, Amund, ask from a corner of the tent as he sharpened a knife. “Your aunt Lissa, she was married to the dark mage lord Viren, wasn’t she?”

“Was, he’s no longer a part of our family now and we don’t talk about him.” Sigrid responds before spitting at the ground. “And a good thing too. I haven’t seen him since I was little, but I never liked him. Something always felt off about him.”

“Perhaps because he was practically decaying from the inside with dark magic?”

“I heard that he was at fault for the deaths of the queens of Duren and Katolis.” Another guard, Eydis says from her area of the tent. “My mum has family in Duren who were close friends with the two queens and heard a lot of the court blame him for leaving their daughter an orphan and all the events that happened afterwards.”

“Harsh.” Amund mutters before looking to the opening of the tent. “Oh, and speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Sigrid rose from her seat to walk over to the opening and poked her head out to see three riders, one of them carrying something long on their back. Even from this distance she could see that one was her uncle, handing over his staff to the guard before walking forward. That old feeling she used to have when she would be around him in family gatherings, like a chill that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, was coming back. It felt wrong to see him here instead of king Harrow or even young king Ezran.

_ What are you even planning uncle? _

\---

“Hey Claudes, how do you think dad is doing?”

Claudia looks up from her book in surprise to look over to her brother, who was seated with his legs elevated on her desk.

“Like, right now?” She asks, grabbing the small paper bookmark to slip into the book to avoid losing her spot.

“Yeah, like you think he’s faring well after the divorce?”

“Well I like to think he’s at least living okay without us, maybe doing better since he and mom are not constantly bickering with each other anymore. Why do you ask?”

“No reason, aside from the fact that I really hadn’t thought of dad in a while.” Soren says with a shrug. “Seven years can change a person, like us.”

“Yeah, you used to be a little scrawny kid and look at you now.” Claudia laughs. “After six years of Sigrid’s training and consuming clam chowder whenever you can, no one would ever recognize you at all.”

“Callum probably wouldn’t recognize either of us that much, Ezran definitely wouldn’t recognize us because he was just a baby when we left.”

“Yeah, remember when we first met Callum? Harrow got dad to introduce us to him because he didn’t have any friends, and he’s been glued to our side ever since until we left.”

“What do you think our lives would have been like if we hadn’t come with mom?”

Claudia taps her chin in thought. “Well I know I wouldn’t be training dogs, I would have been practicing dark magic and having my insides rot away from using it so much. You, probably working your way into the crownguard or something. We would still have Callum as our friend, we wouldn’t be so close and friendly with Florian’s children, and we wouldn’t have gotten to know mom’s family.”

“And I wouldn’t have discovered my love for clam chowder either.”

“Oh yes, you and your beloved clam chowder. You love it so much you want to marry it.”

Soren gags. “No way! I’d like to date someone who likes it as much as I do, but I wouldn’t marry a bowl of it, it’d stink up after a few days.”

“I was kidding you doof!” Claudia laughs as she chucks a pillow at him. “You know, maybe one of these days we can visit Katolis to see Callum and Ezran again, and we could hang out! Or we could invite them to Del Bar and we could show them all the fun things we do, like the intense snowball battles, mud sledding, snow sledding, they’d love it!”

“Maybe, we’ll have to ask mom first though. I do wonder what those two are up to now.”


	6. Chapter 6

_ Katolis _

Viren looks over the edge of the tower, watching as the three guards pass by. Opeli was still looking for him to arrest him for lying to the other rulers about being a regent, but right now he had other things to worry about, like if this plan Aaravos had suggested to get the rulers to actually listen to him would truly work. He quickly hurried away from the edge to lay down the tarp he had been carrying and carefully unrolled it, revealing four different weapons he and Desmond managed to remove from the corpses of the Moonshadow assassins; a tiny pair of knives, a single sword, a bladed staff, and a khopesh. After laying the weapons out, Viren proceeded to lay four bowls filled with the ashes of the assassins in front of each weapon before grabbing a small pinch from one bowl and pulls out a single red candle to light. He begins to chant, the ignited flame of the candle turning a bright purple as he sprinkles the ashes before blowing on it.

Purple and black smoke erupts from the candle and immediately flies right to one of the weapons, the khopesh, before the smoke turns into an elven figure with glowing eyes clutching the curved blade in their hand. Viren repeated the process three more times with each bowl of ashes and now had four smoke versions of the assassins standing before him and awaiting orders.

“Bring terror to Del Bar, to Neolandia, to Evenere, and to Duren!” He orders. One by one each shadow leapt away in the direction of each kingdom and Viren smirks. Years ago before parting ways and taking his children from him, Lissa had told him he’ll get nowhere with his dark magic, she’ll be eating those words when she finds the body of her beloved king lying on the floor of his room with his throat slit. All he could do now was go back to his chambers, clean himself up, find a way to track down Desmond and wait for more orders from Aaravos. The time for war is coming, and they will have to be ready.

\---

_ Del Bar _

“Did he really expect you all to suddenly give in when he started screaming and yelling?” Lissa asks Florian with a scoff. “He’s almost forty and yet he still acts like a tantrum throwing toddler when things don’t go his way. Seven years of being divorced and he hasn’t even bothered to mature.”

“At least queen Aanya had the sense to stand up to him, and I am glad that the three of you saw she was right in denying Viren troops for a war that hasn’t even started brewing.” Ece agrees with a nod. “Iris made the right choice in stepping down as regent to let her rule.”

“She was waiting with the soldiers in the tents, but she looked absolutely pleased when we told her what happened.” Florian says with a small smile before turning to Lissa. “Now, how did it go with the bandit problem?”

“As usual, a band of unruly folk stealing from the poorer villages and threatening to practically wipe their homes from the map if they didn’t give them a “protection fee” that consisted of gold, grains, and various other things.” Lissa responds and shrugs. “I honestly don’t get why they have to do that, these bandits come from one of the more well off villages that are located near the capitol.”

“Well, whatever the case was, they’re in prison now.” Ece says with a nod. “Now I’d like to go check on my children before I retire for bed.”

“I should head home and check on mine as well.” Lissa says as she turns to walk towards the door when the lights in the room suddenly went out and the air grew cold. “What the -”

They heard loud muffled yells from outside of the doors before they suddenly flew open and two soldiers fell right in, bleeding from their throats. Before either of the three could react, a shadowy figure with a large curved blade held in one hand stepped into the room.

“Protect the king!” Ece yells as she drew her sword from her belt and Lissa whips one of her hunting knives out from her own belt. The shadowy creature leapt for Florian, it’s curved blade swinging for his throat when Ece’s own sword blocked it. “No one hurts my husband!”

“What the ancients is this thing?!” Lissa yells as she takes a stab at the creature, only for it to dissolve and reappear in another part of the room before leaping at Florian again.

“Aunt Lissa!” Lissa gives a yelp of alarm as the attacker’s blade almost stabs her in the face, only for another sword to suddenly appear in front of her and block it.

“Sigrid!” She exclaims when she sees her niece shove the assassin away and stab at it with her blade.

“Get the king out of here!” Sigrid yells. “I’ll keep this thing away from -”

A scream tears from Lissa’s throat when the shadow bashes her niece in the head and sends her flying across the room until she hits the foot of the bed. She sees Ece running for the creature, before it suddenly swings around and Ece suddenly stops in her tracks. Lissa could only watch in horror as her friend fell to her knees grasping at her neck as the front of her tunic became stained in blood, reaching towards her husband before falling forward. 

“ _ ECE! _ ” Florian screams as he rushes towards his wife. Lissa immediately jumped in front of him as the shadow turns right towards him. She makes a grab for the blade, gritting her teeth in pain as the metal cuts into her skin. There was no way she was going to let this thing get to Florian now -

Lissa gives out a scream as the blade is wrenched from her hands and feels something hard hit her on the side of her head. Her vision starts to dim as she falls to the floor, hearing one last scream and the sound of another body hit the floor before everything went black.

\---

“I think I’m gonna be a crownguard or a knight when I get older.” Leif tells Soren as he holds up a wooden figure carved to look like a horse to him. “Being king is boring.”

“Really? I hear you can get all the jelly tarts you want if you are king." Soren says as he takes the little wooden horse. “But you do know if something happens to your father and your older siblings you will have to take the throne eventually.”

“Daddy has to go away a lot of the time and sometimes takes mommy with him for stuff, and he always looks tired after arguing with uncle Audin. And my sisters and brother don’t think I’d make a good king cuz’ I don’t know how to be a proper prince.” Leif says as he grabs another wooden figure from the pile next to him, an elf wielding a large staff, and sets it on the floor in front of him. "Plus I wanna be in the crownguard and have cool armor and a fur cape like you and your mommy and Sigrid."

“Is that so? What makes a proper prince?” Soren asks as he sets the horse down in front of the elf and pushes it over to the other figure.

“Aric says I have to be good at sword fighting, and know battle planning stuff like mommy and Lissa, and I have to be super smart.”

“Prince Salim of Neolandia isn’t good at sword fighting, but I’ve heard that some think he’d be a better king than his older brother because he’s much smarter than him at some things.”

“Do you think I’d make a good king?” Leif asks as he picks up the elf figure and places it on top of the horse. “I told daddy when he asked us what would we do if we were ever kings or queens that I’d make peace with Xadia so I can befriend the elves and my sisters called me stupid.”

“Yeah, Lella told Claudia about it and she told me, I think that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.” Soren says as he grabs two wooden figures, one of an elf and one of a human soldier and places them together. “Sigrid has been telling us since we were little that peace was possible, and we shouldn’t have to be fighting anymore.”

“Daddy’s friend did something bad and Xadia is mad at him.” Leif points out. “Is the dragon queen gonna do something to us too?”

“Nah, we haven’t done anything to hurt the dragon queen at all, we’re okay.” Soren assures him as he leans over to ruffle the prince’s hair. “But I’m sure within time we’ll find a way to come to peaceful terms with Xadia, and maybe you’ll make friends with a little elf your age like you wanted to.”

Before Leif could say anything, the lights in the room immediately went out, leaving them in darkness. The prince gives a yelp of alarm as he scrambles towards Soren, knocking over his toy figures in the process. Soren quickly pulls him to his chest protectively, scanning the darkened room for any intruders. There was no way the candles went out by because of a strong breeze, the window near Leif's bed was locked shut and there was no way the candles went out by themselves...unless...

"Soren!"

Sore immediately throws Leif away from him and rolls out of the way as something strikes the floor where they had been standing previously. He sees the intruder, it looked like it was made of purple and black smoke with what looked like horns, glowing eyes and a curved blade in its hand.

“Stay back!” Soren yells, drawing his sword and swinging it at the smokey figure to keep it at bay. "Leif get out of here!"

The figure leaps forward, swinging their sword as Soren immediately blocks the attack and takes a stab at them, only for his sword to go right through it and vanish before reappearing near the open door and bolting off.

"Leif!" Soren screams as he runs after the smoke figure, panic surging through his body.

The hallway was dark and he could see fallen guards laying on the ground, but he wasn't sure if they were even dead or alive. Where would Leif even go to hide? This castle didn't have hidden passageways that a child could hide in like Katolis did, so he probably hid himself in a room he felt safe in. His siblings rooms were out of the question, and they probably locked their doors when they heard the screams, so the next best place would either be the library or his parents room.

"Leif! Leif where are you?!" Soren yells, stopping in his tracks.

"Soren!" He sees him, he's hiding behind a large suit of armor and runs out to hug his legs. "It ran to mommy and daddy's room!"

Soren feels another surge of panic. His mother was supposed to be there, updating them about her mission with the bandits, and Sigrid was probably there as well guarding the doors.

"Come with me, you should be safe here." Soren says as he takes his hand and walks Leif over to one of the rooms before knocking loudly on it. "Princess Adessa! Princess Adessa! I need you to open up!"

The door opens a crack before Leif's older sister sticks her head out. "Soren? What's going on?"

"No time to explain, keep Leif in here with you until I come back." Soren responds as he quickly pushes the young prince into his sister's room. "Lock your door and do not open it until I come back, and keep a weapon in hand if something tries to force itself in."

"Soren what-"

"Don't question it, keep Leif safe!"

He quickly shuts the door before bolting down the hall towards the king and queen's rooms, praying the assassin didn't get there before he did and wouldn't get to the other royal children. While he had faith his mother, cousin and the other guards would protect Florian and Ece, he couldn't help but worry that even they wouldn't be enough to defend them from some smoky elf thing that couldn't be harmed with a normal weapon.

Soren room arrives at the chambers of the king and queen, he knows something is wrong. No guards standing outside, and he could smell something foul, like that possum corpse he caught one of Claudia's dogs sniffing the other day before he got rid of it - blood. The smell of blood hit his nose the moment he pushed open the doors of the king and queen’s room, but he wasn’t prepared for the sight of so many bodies.

King Florian is laying face down in a puddle of his own blood, queen Ece is slumped against the wall with her throat and chest sliced open and her sword lying by her side, Sigird is slumped against the foot of the bed bleeding from the side of her head, his mother is curled on her side near the king with her own lying a few feet away, and two other guards are lying in the doorway also slaughtered in the same manner as the queen. Soren felt like he was going to be sick, the smell of the blood in his nostrils was overwhelming despite the doors leading to the balcony being flung wide open. The elf thing wasn't even in sight anywhere, but there was no time to find it.

“M-mom! Mom!” He yells as he rushes towards his mother and turns her over to find her hands bleeding but she’s still breathing.

“Soren…?” She whispers and he feels a sense of relief rush through him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here.” He whispers frantically as he grabs at the sleeve of his tunic and grabs his mother’s sword to cut the cloth. “Hold still, I need to wrap your hands up-”

“Sigrid...help her…” His mother whispers. “She...help…”

"Here, let me patch you up first."

Soren carefully managed to wrap his mother's hand up as well as he could and helped her onto her feet before placing her on the bed. He hurries over to his cousin, carefully removing her helmet. She's still breathing, a good sign at least, but she needed medical attention.

"And this was my favorite shirt too, but because you two need it more than I do, I'm not going to complain about it." He mutters as he removes the knife Sigrid kept strapped to her hip and cuts off a larger part of his untouched sleeve before cutting it in half and tying the pieces together. Once he has her hair pushed out of the way and has her head bandaged, Soren carefully helps his cousin up before carefully carrying her over to the bed where his mother was now sitting up and looking at Florian's body. With a frown, she immediately gets up and tries to yank one of the blankets off the bed before crying out in pain.

"Mom!"

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Lissa tries to assure her son as she clutches her hands to her chest. “Oh ancients I’m not going to be able to hold a sword properly now aren’t I?”

“Just...hang on let me do it.” Soren places his cousin down near the bed before grabbing the blanket his mother had tried to grab and carefully draped it over Florian. “Did you see where that thing went?”

“No, I heard the sound of something getting kicked open moments before you came in.” Lissa says as Soren grabs another blanket to carefully drape it over Ece’s body. “Oh my gods...I can’t believe this is happening...”

“We need to alert the guards, put the palace on lockdown and have guards stationed around the rooms of the princes and princesses, and we need to get Aeson to patch you two up now."

The court physician was not too pleased to be awoken so late, but the second he saw Lissa’s hands wrapped in bloody cloth and Sigrid laying limp in Soren’s arms, he immediately ushered them in and proceeded to treat them. Luckily, Sigrid would be fine, getting away with a broken rib and a small wound to her head. Lissa on the other hand had deep cuts on her hands from grabbing the intruder’s blade in attempt to defend Florian before the knocked her legs out from under her and hitting her on the back of the head with the hilt before going from the king.

“Are any of the royal children alright?” Aeson asks Soren when he finished tending to Lissa. “Leif, Adessa, Lella, Aric, Cira, are any of them alright?”

“Leif was with me when we encountered the intruder, I thought it was going to try killing him, he managed to run and hide himself before I found him and had him stay in Adessa’s room. After that I ran to the king’s room and found them all like that.” Soren explains and runs a hand through his hair. “I need to go see if they’re alright, I promised Adessa I’d come back for her and Leif.”

“Go to them, I’ll send a message to your family to let them know what happened.” Aeson says nudging him to the door. “And keep Leif with you when you get him, he really needs someone right now, especially when he finds out what happened to his parents.”

\---

_ Neolandia _

“Father, are you okay?”

Ahling looks up from his cup of wine to find both his sons watching him with worried looks (or more like Salim wore a worried look and Kasef was wearing his “stoic but still worried” look). The three of them were seated in his room, Salim with a book in his hand while Kasef played with a dagger he had been sharpening earlier.

“You’re hardly ever silent like this, very unlike you.” Kasef points out with a small frown. “Something at the Pentarchy happen that’s bothering you?”

His eldest was right, he was hardly ever silent unless something was truly bothering him or he was upset over something he couldn’t hide with a smile and a joyful attitude. Since his wife passed away several years back he had always tried to mask any emotion that wasn’t happiness with a smile, just to show that everything was alright at least and for his children not to worry so much. It worked quite well when they were younger, but now Kasef was already an adult and Salim would be turning sixteen soon, they at least deserved to know to put their minds at ease.

“You boys are aware of our relationship with Xadia, right?” He asks and his sons nod. “Recently king Harrow passed away and his friend lord Viren is now regent of the kingdom until his son Ezran is old enough to rule. He called on us to discuss our future and what to do with an apparent threat at the borders between Xadia and Duren and Katolis. Apparently Sunfire elves have been seen coming close, dragons have been spotted in the clouds, Viren thinks Xadia is planning on waging a war after killing Harrow.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense at all, Xadia only killed Harrow for revenge against killing their dragon king.” Salim points out with a frown. “Has Duren’s regent mentioned there being reports of similar things at their borders?”

“Actually queen Aanya came in place of her regent, and no she did not report anything. She was actually against wanting to go to war with Xadia due to how she’d rather not sacrifice anymore lives after what happened to her parents several years back.”

“And what did you and the other rulers say?” Kasef asks, setting his knife down.

“We all at first agreed to help if the other kingdoms did, but Aanya pointed out that it was a ridiculous decision that we should only do it if everyone else is willing.” Ahling lets out a small laugh. “Half of the things she said would have left you confused Kasef, I honestly think she’d get along quite well with your brother. In the end we all agreed that if Xadia hasn’t even done anything drastic after Harrow had been assassinated, we weren’t going to do anything, and goodness did that make Viren angry. He tried to get me to put some sense into Aanya and shouted at me when I didn’t.”

“How dare he!” Kasef snaps angrily. “You are a king and he dares threaten you?”

“Regents are kind of at the same level as a king.” Salim corrects him. “But I do agree that it was quite rude of him. I think you and the other rulers did the right thing father, there’s no need for war right now. But unless the other kingdoms were to be attacked, then it’d be understandable to wage war, but we don’t always have to pull a Kasef when someone simply pushes us.”

“Did you just use me as a verb?” Kasef asks with a frown, grabbing his little brother out of his chair to pull him into a headlock and grinded his fist against the top of his head. Ahling knew his son was just playing around, despite the frown he could see a bit of a smile and a hint of playfulness in his tone while Salim tried wiggling out of his embrace.

“Now boys, play nice.” He chuckles before setting his cup down. “It’s late, you two should head to bed and get some -”

Salim gives a yelp of surprise when the lights in the room go out as his brother releases him and jumps to his feet with his knife in hand. Ahling looks around wildly for whatever caused the lights in his room to go out, now feeling worried and alarmed for his other children who were probably asleep in their beds.

“Father?” Kasef calls as he shoves Salim behind him.

“I’m right here, don’t worry!” Ahling calls out as he stumbles forward. “Just stay where you are and -”

“Father!” Salim screams. Ahling barely had time to turn around and stumble back as a dark shadow with glowing eyes lunged right at him. And that was the last thing he saw before everything went dark.

\---

_ Evenere _

“Three different bedtime stories and she’s finally down for the night.” Silas says with a sigh of relief as he closes the large leather book and sets it down on his lap. “Goodness, how have we managed this for the past eight years?”

“With patience, which we still have plenty of.” Fareeda chuckles as she takes the book from her husband to walk over to their daughter’s bed. “She wasn’t that much trouble while I was gone, was she?”

“Aside from her little tantrums over getting her hair brushed, she was no problem at all.” Silas says as he gets up from his seat as his wife pulls the blankets up to their daughter’s chin. “Fluffy really missed you, she wouldn’t even leave your throne unless it was mealtime or if she had to use the bathroom. I think while you were gone she decided she was in charge of the kingdom.”

“You guessed right.” Fareeda laughs as she finishes tucking her daughter into bed and pressed a kiss on top of her head. “You head to bed I’ll be there shortly, I just want to spend a little more time with Ophelia before turning in for the night.”

“Alright, though I wouldn’t be surprised if I wake up tomorrow to find you asleep here.” Silas chuckles before leaving the room.

It was touching to see his wife want to make up for the time she was gone, staying with her daughter since she hadn’t been able to arrive home until it was quite late. Ophelia had insisted on staying awake to see her mother, though it had taken her a few bedtime stories to put her down for the night. Silas always loved how his daughter was with him and Fareeda if the two were ever gone from Evenere for more than a day, the second they would return she would latch herself to their legs like a little boa constrictor and not release them until they had to practically pry her off. The last few days had the little princess anxious, begging to know when her mother was coming home from the Pentarchy meeting with the other royals, and Silas had done everything he could to keep her mind off it. Even his wife’s pet alligator, Fluffy, had been doing her best to distract Ophelia from the absence of their mother.

_ And what a relief it was that she returned home safely. _ The king thought as he walks down the hallway to the room he and Fareeda shared.  _ Though she did look a bit anxious and nervous when she had returned, I wonder what happened with the other rulers that made her nervous? Perhaps I should ask her tomorrow in the morning when she’s feeling better - _

The whole hallway suddenly felt cold, as if they had just stepped into one of Del Bar’s icy wastelands and the lanterns hanging on the walls suddenly went out. Silas looked around in panic for any guards, before remembering they didn’t even have guards standing guard in the hallway.

His wife and daughter were safe, weren’t they? Ophelia practically slept with Fluffy for ancients sake! Who would try and attack a child if she had a large scaly dragon-like creature asleep at the foot of her bed? But something told him he absolutely had to check on them, he should be worried as well, which he was - for both his wife and daughter. SIlas immediately turns around and hurries back towards his daughter’s room. By the time he managed to reach his daughter’s room he found the doors slightly open and heard something that sounded like muffled crying. Silas quickly opens the doors to find his daughter huddled on the floor near her bed crying, and gives a small gasp when she sees him.

“Daddy! I heard mommy scream!” Ophelia sobs as she jumps to her feet and rushes over to her father. “When I opened my eyes I saw her fighting with something before it threw her at my window! It looked like a ghost!”

“Shh, it’s okay just try to calm down.” Silas says as he hugs his sobbing daughter to his chest. “Is mommy still in the room?”

He hears a hissing noise and looks over to see Fluffy on the floor near a pile of broken glass, her eyes trained on the broken window. Fareeda was nowhere in the room, and he was now dreading that he was about to see something outside of that broken window that he didn’t want Opehlia to see. He carefully sets her back down on the bed and walks over to the window. Fluffy growls again before pushing herself back away from the broken glass as Silas gets close enough to look outside. He couldn’t see anything down below in the courtyard, it was too dark. But...there was no way his wife could have survived a fall from this height. He couldn’t deny it even if he tried. Fareeda was gone.

\---

_ Katolis _

“We should rest for the night, it’s no use walking in the dark.” Enya says to Corvus as Ezran gives a yawn. “I’ll stand guard.”

“Are you sure?” The huntsman asks with a concerned frown. “You need rest as well, you got injured earlier."

"I'm fine, really." Enya insists as she bends down to pick up Ezran and Bait and winces in pain.

"Yeah, you need rest." Corvus says, taking the young king from her. “Also, the doctor said not to put any pressure on that arm.”

“I know that!”

“Hey we shouldn’t be fighting!” Ezran says as Corvus sets him down. “Enya is right, we should get some rest before walking on, it’s gonna take us quite a while.”

The three managed to find an empty cave to spend the night in, Corvus leaving the group for a bit to retrieve some firewood for them while Bait acted as a light source for them. When he had returned Ezran had fallen asleep in Enya’s lap while she was laying against the wall of their shelter, and Amaya and Bait snuggled against her side.

“How’s your arm doing?” The huntsman asks as he sets his bundle of sticks down and begins to arrange them with some large stones that were laying on the floor.

“Fine, I’m just bummed out that I got hurt and probably won’t be able to do any work now.” Enya responds, lifting up her left arm. “Stupid Desmond, just had to stab me there.”

“Better your arm and not in your chest.”

“All to defend that poor dragon.”

Corvus nods as he reaches into one of his pouches to remove some flint and begins to strike it together until he gets a few sparks to come out and land on the dry wood.

“So, any idea of what you are going to do when we get back to Katolis?” He asks as he puts the flint away.

“Get Gren out of that secret dungeon, assuming Viren hasn’t done anything to him yet.” Enya says as she looks down at Ezran, still asleep on her lap. “Keep Ezran safe, that’s obviously my main priority.”

“A main priority for the both of us.” Corvus says with a nod in agreement before getting up to seat himself on the other side of her. “Hopefully we can sort out this mess, who knows what Viren has been doing while Ezran was missing.”

“I just hope Callum and Rayla get Zym back to his mother before anything bad happens.” Enya says quietly as she runs a hand through Ezran’s hair. “Ezran said he’ll try to help from the throne, hopefully the council will help him out at least, I trust Opeli will do her best in helping him be a good king.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we've reached the events of season 3!


	7. Chapter 7

“YOU ARE WHAT?!” Claudia screams, practically sending her dogs scurrying for cover. “THAT IS SO  _ UNFAIR _ !”

“For the last time Claudes, I have no choice!” Soren says as he shoulders his travel bag over his shoulder. “Aric gave us orders and I have to carry them out.”

“By going to war?! We already nearly lost our mom and cousin with what happened!” Claudia snaps angrily. “Does Aric think sending troops to Xadia is going to solve anything? No! It won’t bring queen Ece and king Florian back, this is pointless!”

It had been two days since the assassination incident, Aric was crowned the morning after it had happened, and just now Claudia was finding out that the new king was sending troops to Katolis for aid with a war against Xadia. According to her mother, their father was apparently the regent of Katolis and had requested aid from the other four kingdoms to send troops to fight back against Xadia, but the rulers decided not to because it was rather pointless. It seemed rather strange that the dragon queen sent elves to kill all of the rulers, when only one of them actually did anything recently to invoke her wraith, unless they too have done something to warrant an assassination.

“I have no choice, Aric specifically requested for me to go with four other family members, I guess so dad could be happy or something.” Soren says as he turns to face her. “Claude I understand why you are mad, but please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at stupid Aric!” Claudia huffs. “He’s only sending you because mom and Sigird are injured.”

Recently their mother and cousin had recently been discharged from the infirmary and now forced to rest in bed upon Aeson’s orders. Sigrid was hating every minute of it, getting restless because she wasn’t allowed to get up unless she needed to use the bathroom; and their mother couldn’t even move her hands so much without her almost crying out in pain.

“Look, I want to stay home to help care for mom, but I can’t disobey Aric right now.” Soren groans and runs a hand through his hair. “But who knows, maybe there isn’t a need for war. We’re going to Katolis, maybe the council members there got dad to change his mind about waging war on Xadia.”

“Dad is stubborn, you know he won’t change his mind so easily.” Claudia points out and frowns. “And what if he doesn’t want to work with our kingdom because you and our family are among the soldier ranks? You know he has no love for mom’s relatives anymore, and I’m sure after so many years he’s started to hate us too for going with mom instead of staying with him.”

While she did have a point, Claudia found it a bit hard to believe that her own father could hate her brother. After all, he wasted some pretty rare resources just to save Soren from the illness he had as a child, but that led their parents to start fighting more until their mother had enough. They hadn’t even been in contact with their father since the day they left Katolis, and even now they hadn’t bothered trying to get in contact with him, knowing he was probably too busy to even answer their letters.

“He asked our kingdom for support, it’d be pretty dumb of him if he decided to not accept our help just because there are a few soldiers he doesn’t even like.” Soren says with a shrug before placing a hand on her shoulder. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid, okay? And I’m sure aunt Elda will make sure I don’t get that deep into the battle, assuming we actually fight.”

Claudia gives her brother a skeptical look before flinging herself at him and pulling him into a tight hug. “If you do something stupid, I will track you down with all of my dogs and hit you with the heaviest book I can find in the library.”

“Okay, okay, I promise.” She hears her brother say before feeling his arms wrap around her in a hug. “I’ll try my best to stay out of trouble.”

“You’re going away?” The two look up to find Magnus and Gisli standing in the doorway of Soren’s room.

“Why? Why are you going away Soren?” Gisli asks as she steps towards them.

“Stupid Aric, that’s why.” Claudia responds bluntly. “But he’s gonna be with aunt Elda when he goes, so he’ll be in good hands.”

“Bjorn is coming along too.” Magnus adds with a roll of his eyes. “But if his mother is coming along, I’m sure she’ll make sure he doesn’t goof something up during this...whatever it is.”

“You have to promise to come back safely! You have to!” Gisli demands as she runs up to her cousins and hugs Soren’s waist. “Or grandma Sigrid will haunt you!”

“Oh no, not that!” Soren groans mockingly before he laughs as Magnus joins the group hug. “We cannot disappoint our beloved and deceased grandma!”

“You’ll be disappointing her if you don’t come back alive and in one piece!” Claudia scolds. “And us too! So you better stay safe or we’ll all come after you!”

\---

“...Leif, it’s about time you grew up.”

Leif really wasn’t liking that his older brother had barged into his room, unannounced and started rambling about responsibilities of a prince. Right now all he wanted to do was go hide in the blanket fort with Sprinkles and his stuffed dragon, not stand here listening to his brother. Why was Aric even here in the first place anyways?

“Why do I have to grow up  _ now _ ?” The younger prince asks. “Mama and papa said I should enjoy my childhood and -”

“Because I said so!” Leif flinches at the familiar harsh tone his older brother often used around him. “You are seven years old, you know what Cira and I were doing when we were seven? Learning how to spar against the best of our crownguard soldiers, battle strategies, learning to ride the same horses our parents would ride, things you should have been learning to do when you were six! Yet you have been spending your days locked in the library reading fairy tales, playing with kittens and wooden figures, and distracting our best soldiers with your stupidities!”

“Soren liked playing with me…” Leif mumbles, unsure what to do. Why did Aric get to be king? Why did this mean he got to boss him around now that their parents were gone? He really wished Lissa was here to scold his big brother, he at least would listen to her...but she wasn’t here, she was home resting because she got hurt. Don’t cry in front of Aric, don’t cry in front of Aric, don’t cry -

“Are you seriously crying right now?” Aric asks angrily as Leif tries wiping the tears away from his face. “I cannot believe I am related to you, how could my own brother be this weak?”

“Soren doesn’t think I’m weak...he says I am strong in my own way!” Leif states angrily as he furiously wipes at his face. “Why can’t you be nice like him and Sigrid? You and my sisters are always so mean! If they were here they wouldn’t let you bully me like this!”

“Yeah well Soren can’t be here because he has an important mission, which is going to Xadia and killing the stupid elves who killed our parents!”

“What?!” No, it couldn’t be true, Aric would never send Soren away like that...right? He was supposed to be here to protect the royal family, he wasn’t a normal soldier like that.

“You heard me. Maybe now that he’s not here, you’ll stop acting like a baby and start acting your age.” Aric sneers before turning away and walking towards the door. “Oh and just a reminder Leif, you may be my little brother, but since you are last in line for the throne no one will care if anything happened to you. So watch what you do from now on.”

It wasn’t until he was very sure that his older brother was gone that Leif ran towards the blanket fort and buried himself inside of it to let himself cry. He was now very sure his older brother sent Soren away on purpose, just to upset him. Or...or maybe he was lying. Soren would never leave if his family was hurt, maybe he was at home with his sister tending to their mother and cousin.

_ I can’t stay here, not after what Aric said. _ Leif thinks as he sits up to wipe his eyes and nose with the sleeve of his tunic.  _ He’s scary, and I don’t like it when he’s like that. I don’t wanna stay here, my sisters don’t even care about me. At least Claudia cares, and she’s not even my sister at all! Maybe...maybe she and Soren could let me stay with them for a while, so I won’t have to stay here and do everything Aric wants me to do. And I’m not leaving Sprinkles either! _

With his mind already made up, the young prince got to work in gathering what he deemed necessary. Right now he was just going to pack some clothes, a small pouch of money he kept hidden under his bed, his cat, and the dragon doll Soren had given him as a birthday present when he was little. Today it wasn’t even snowing at all, but it wouldn’t hurt to still carry his fur cloak with him in case it did on his way to his destination.

Once he was sure he had everything, Leif made sure that no guards were standing in the hallway before he began to run. He felt like some sort of spy jumping to hide behind curtains and suits of armor if he heard someone coming his way, not wanting to risk getting caught. If any of those “boring fairy tales” had taught him anything, it was that you can’t trust anyone in the castle when a new and evil ruler had just taken the throne.

_ I really feel like I am the escaping hero in those books Claudia likes to read to me! _ The young prince thought excitedly to himself. Too bad he really couldn’t escape the palace walls on horseback like those heroes, or escape by scaling the castle walls with a magical rope or talisman, that would have made everything much easier.

It wasn’t until he had managed to sneak past a pair of guards while keeping Sprinkles quiet and crossed the bridge that he really was free. Leif really couldn’t believe that right now he had just managed to escape without his older brother noticing! Ha! Take that Aric!

“Okay Sprinkles, we have a very important task to do now!” Leif says as he puts his cat down on the ground. “First, locate Claudia and Soren’s house and convince them to let me stay for a bit! And second, keep a low profile for as long as possible! Sounds good?”

The black and orange cat gave what sounded like an unamused meow before stretching himself out a bit.

“I like your enthusiasm! Now, onward!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're finally starting to get somewhere now! Future chapters of the war will mostly be from Soren's POV since Claudia will be at home in Del Bar (and doesn't have to witness her brother stab an illusion of their dad) but I will be attempting to include POVs from other characters, like Callum, Opeli, maybe even Aanya and Ezran  
> So hopefully I can actually get some more work done for this story, especially since I am busy trying to focus on school


	8. Chapter 8

_ Katolis _

“So how does it feel to be home?” Elda asks Soren as they were finally setting up camp.

“Feels...weird.” He admits with a small shrug. “But it’s nice to see so much green again, it’s been a pretty long time.”

“That’s what happens when you live in a place that’s practically winter for more than three quarters of the year.” His aunt chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, if this goes well, in a few weeks you’ll be seeing the beautiful snowy terrain of Del Bar again. Now, help me set up the other tents, can’t let the Evenere or Neolandian’s take up the good spots.”

It felt so strange to see soldiers of three different kingdoms mingling like this, some chatting with each other or sharpening weapons. His mother said the only time she’s ever seen soldiers mingling together like this were the ones who accompanied the rulers to the Pentarchy summonings. So far he hasn’t seen the king of the swamp kingdom, Silas, just prince Kasef who had apparently left about an hour ago to talk with Lord Viren. They’ll probably meet with him later to discuss stuff.

“You think my dad will want to see me?” Soren asks his aunt as he is helping her and Bjorn set up their tent. “I know he’s probably busy with his job as regent, but if we got to the castle, you think he’ll really want to see me?”

“Doubt it.” Bjorn says loudly as he grabs a hammer. “Hand me the peg will you?”

“He’d probably be too busy to see anyone, unless they’re important like Kasef.”

“If the man has time to be playing with mutilated body parts of Xadian creatures while he’s supposed to be running a kingdom, then he’ll have plenty of time to see his oldest son again.” Elda says with a frown as her son was handed the peg. “But really Soren, do you want to see your father?”

Soren was quiet for a few moments before he shook his head. “No, at least not right now. I came here to help you, uncle Erik, cousin Bjorn and aunt Gro lead the army, it’s not a social visit.”

“Good. If you don’t feel ready to see that man yet, you don’t have to speak with him.”

“Pardon, are there members of the  Askelson clan here?” The three look up from their work to find a female Neolandian soldier standing near them.

“Who’s asking?” Bjorn asks in a bored tone before yelping when his mother smacks his head.

“Prince Kasef wishes for an audience with the Askelson clan, specifically the ones who have relations to lord Viren.”

“Uh...I’m his son.” Soren says, raising his hand before gesturing to his aunt and cousin. “This is my mother’s cousin and her son, why does the prince need to see us?”

“He’ll explain himself, if you will, please follow me.”

Soren looked to his aunt and cousin, who gave him puzzled looks before they put down their things and began following the soldier. She led them to a large tent with four guards standing in front, two who pulled the flaps aside to let them in. Inside Soren caught sight of his uncle and aunt, along with a silver haired woman dressed in the armor of Evenere, an older Neolandian soldier, and prince Kasef standing around a large table.

“Why were we summoned?" Elda asks as she steps forward.

"King Ezran refused us entry to the borders." Prince Kasef responds. "And since Evenere and Del Bar didn't have their own rulers come leading the armies, I've asked for the highest ranking generals and commanders take their place for this meeting. You're Lissa Askelson, aren't you?"

"I am a relative of hers." Elda responds. "You said king Ezran denied you access, what happened to his regent?"

"Unfortunately he was thrown into prison, councilwoman Opeli has yet to tell us why." The silver haired Evenere general responds. "Prince Kasef had gone to the castle to let the young king know that our forces were waiting for his command and the boy told him he didn't even want to go to war."

"Why do we even need to fight, can't we just do this in a more peaceful manner?" Soren asks abruptly before immediately slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Elda who is this?" The Neolandian general asks with a frown his eyes on Soren and Bjorn. "I thought Kasef asked for generals specifically, not low ranking soldiers. Those stand outside."

"He is Lissa's son, Aric specifically asked for him to help us in the fight." Elda responds defensively. “And that’s my son, Bjorn, he’s not that low ranking.”

“Geez thanks mom.” Bjorn mutters before Soren silences him with an elbow to the side.

"Ah, a crownguard fighting among soldiers who've already seen war." The Evenere general chuckles and Soren felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I'm guessing if he's Lissa's boy, that makes you lord Viren's son."

“Yes, I mean I was before he and my mother split.” Soren responds and looks to his aunt for help.

“You were close with king Ezran, right?” Kasef asks. “Your father and his were friends, surely you two knew each other quite well.”

Soren wasn’t sure how to answer that. He really didn’t get to see the young prince so much, aside from when he and Claudia got to play with Callum and their mothers would supervise them. Last time he saw Ezran, he was still in diapers and babbling nonsense while trying to stuff his feet into his mouth.

“Well...I really wasn’t close with him, but my sister and I were close to his older brother, prince Callum.” He admits and rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, what does this have to do with my father?”

“King Ezran had returned to Katolis, about yesterday evening, and is now in charge of the kingdom. However, he is denying us access into Xadia, despite that his regent asked the other four kingdoms for aid.” Kasef explains. “He needs to see reason, and I had heard that one of lord Viren’s children was here in the camp, so I figured you could maybe talk some sense into him.”

“Whoa whoa, you want me to try and persuade a kid I haven’t seen in nearly a decade to let us cross the borders?” Soren asks and shakes his head. “Look I don’t even think Ezran will even listen to me. At this point I’m really just a stranger to him, he won’t even remember me from when he was a baby. If he says no, why are you trying to fight his decision? Do we really need to resort to violence to fix this?”

“Just talk to the boy, convince him.” Kasef says with a frown. “Just keep your distance from his personal guards, one of them has a dog that will probably tear you to shreds on command.”

Soren looks to both his aunts and uncle for help, but they seemed just as lost as he was. “Okay fine, but if he still says no, don’t blame me for not trying.”

\---

_ What am I doing, this is insane! _ Soren thinks frantically as he is being led to the throne room by three Katolian guards. He really didn’t want to do this, but what choice did he have when the crown prince of Neolandia practically ordered him go see the young king?  _ Ezran has two personal guards and a crazy guard dog, what happened when he was kidnapped that led him to getting this sort of bodyguards?! _

“A visitor is here for the king.” One guard says to a pair of guards standing in front of the doorway of the throne room. The two guards stepped aside and Soren followed the soldier into the room.

The throne room looked exactly as he remembered, even keeping the map table in the same space as before. Standing in the front of the room where the throne sat was a familiar face, councilwoman Opeli, Ezran seated on the throne and playing with some sort of animal on his lap, and two people he had never seen before standing on either side of the throne.

“What now?” Opeli asks, sounding very much annoyed.

“A soldier of the Del Bar army was sent by prince Kasef to speak with the king.” The soldier responds before stepping aside.

Soren could see the flicker of recognition on Opeli’s face before she goes back to the neutral and annoyed expression on her face again. Was she always this grumpy and frowny? He remembered she used to smile a lot, and she was pretty friendly to him and Claudia.

“Uh...hi…” He says, unsure what to say. Ezran stops playing with the weird animal, some sort of yellow and blue frog, that was on his lap to look up. “Uh..I was sent by prince Kasef to talk to Ezran, in hopes of asking him to change his mind about denying the armies access into Xadia.”

“Why doesn’t the prince himself ask his highness himself?” Asks one of the two people standing on either side of the throne, a girl with dark hair that was pulled into a braid that sat over her shoulder. Soren then noticed a black and white dog standing beside her, watching him intently. Probably the dog Kasef mentioned. “And why would he send a soldier from an army that’s not his own?”

“Because...I used to know the young?” Soren responds, now feeling very unsure about this.

“He’s lord Viren’s son.” Opeli adds and frowns. “He only sent you because he thought a childhood friend could persuade Ezran into changing his mind.”

“I don’t remember him.” Ezran says and looks at Soren. “I thought Desmond was Viren’s only son.”

“He’s his biological son, he and his sister used to play with your older brother.”

“Yeah that would be Claudia.” Soren says with a nod and looks around the room. “Ah I hate to be rude, but where is Callum? Shouldn’t he be here?”

“My brother is on a journey to help end this war, there is no need for some armies to cross the border.” Ezran responds before climbing off his throne and taking a few steps forward. “Why are you here?”

“I...king Aric asked me to come help my family, and I think he thought sending me to fight with my dad was going to make things better, or something.” Soren admitted and rubbed the back of his neck. “But I’m actually relieved I don’t have to see him right now, kind of not ready to face him again. Anyways, should I head back and tell the prince and the generals what you have told me?”

“The king has told prince Kasef the same thing he has told you, though I have a feeling he won’t be too pleased about getting the same response.” Opeli says and frowns. “You’re not even going to try changing Ezran’s mind, are you?”

“I really don’t want to go to war honestly, I’d rather be at home tending to my mother and aunt and making sure Florian’s children are safe.” Soren responds and looks to Ezran. “I respect your choice in trying to keep the peace, but if Kasef comes storming in demanding a different response, stay firm on your decision.”

“Huh, for a son of lord Viren, you’re actually not as bad as I thought.” The braid girl says from her spot before her dog walks over to Soren. “Well at least this went better than with Kasef, I was just about ready to set Amaya on you if you even raised a hand against Ezran.”

“I don’t understand what you meant by that first thought, but thanks...I guess?”

“Well it’s not like he’s going to be anything like Desmond, and Amaya seems to like him so he’s okay, for now.” The man standing on the other side of Ezran’s throne comments as the dog sniffs Soren’s boots and gives a bark before running a circle around him and stopping to sit in front of him with a big grin. “Yep, that’s her little approval run.”

“I should get going, uh...see you all later, probably.” Soren says gesturing to the door before bowing hastily and turning to walk away. “Nice seeing you again Ezran, and good luck with ruling.”

“And good luck to you being a soldier!” Ezran yells after him.

\---

_ Del Bar _

“Mom, you really think they’re going to go to war?” Claudia asks her mother as she is busy trying to fix her bandages of one of her hands. “I don’t want Sore, or any of our family to...you know.”

“I know and I don’t want that either.” Lissa sighs and gives her daughter a small smile. “But I have a feeling your brother won’t be fighting with the army, if the ancients will it, we’ll have him back home in a few weeks in one piece and alive.”

“I’d honestly rather have him back and patrolling the castle than be out there fighting with everyone else.” Claudia admits as she ties off the bandages. “Aric has only been king for a few days and I have a feeling that sending those soldiers off to fight a war is going to blow up in his face.”

“Sending practically over half of the capital’s best trained soldiers was indeed an unwise idea, even Audin was against it. And funny enough he normally argues with me over such things.” Lissa says and winces when Claudia pulls a bit too hard on the bandage. “And he was also not too happy to find that Leif has been staying here instead of the palace, even when I explained his brother practically threatened him. He’s been coming every day demanding I return him to the palace, but he’s too scared to even come in and drag him out himself.”

“Because grandpa sits outside polishing his sword and glaring at him.” Claudia laughs. “And aunt Talia sits out there with him peeling whatever we’re gonna have for dinner, kind of scary really.”

“I’d like to see him try and pry this poor boy from our grasp.” Lissa huffs. “Better yet I’d like to see his own nephew dare barge in here and drag his brother out with a huge majority of us guarding the porch.”

“Lissa, they’re here again.” They hear Raul call from outside of the room. “This time it’s Aric  _ and  _ Audin.”

“Ancients help me.” Lissa mutters as her daughter finishes fixing the bandages. “Claudia grab my sword.”

“But you can’t grip anything that’s not a spoon.” Her daughter points out.

“I’m not going to be the one holding it. And call your dogs to the porch.”

The two walked out to the front porch with Claudia’s dogs in tow to find both Ulf, Talia and Raul standing on the porch with Audin and his nephew standing a few feet away in the snow covered yard with a handful of soldiers.

“Lissa, this is the last time I will ask you this.” Aric says as he takes a step forward before two of Claudia’s dogs growl loudly, causing him to step back. “Surrender the young prince, or -”

“Or what Aric? What are you going to do?” Lissa asks as she steps forward to stand between her father and brother. “Send my daughter off to fight in a war she’s not been prepared for?”

“This is treason Lissa, you just can’t harbor the young prince like this.” Audin says as he steps forward. “We’re trying to do this peacefully, Leif needs to be home with his brother and sisters -”

“Who don’t even care about him at all, and who was threatened by his own brother!” Claudia snaps as she pushes her way forward so she is the one standing on the steps of the porch and grips the sword tightly in her hands. “Leif was scared about staying in a place he was supposed to be safe in, and your nephew threatened to kill him if he didn’t do as he ordered. What sort of king threatens a seven year old with death?”

“He’s only doing this to spite me because I sent your brother off to fight.” Aric retorts. “He needs to grow up and act like a prince!”

“He’s only seven! He’s still just a kid and he’s not even close to being next in line for the throne!” Claudia retorts back. “Soren was the only person in the palace who even bothered to try to comfort him after your parents died! You’re both making it sound like we are harboring a criminal, not a child who needs someone to protect him. I may not be as skilled as my soldier trained family members like my brother, but while he is gone I will protect Leif from the likes of you!”

“You just made your grandmother and ancestors proud.” She hears her grandfather say and even without looking she could tell he was grinning. “Now what do you have to say to that Audin? Or are you too cowardly to stand up to a teenager?”

Claudia was very sure the councilman looked ready to throw a fit from the way his face grew red, and Aric looked like he was just about ready to storm up to the porch as well, but instead he placed a hand on his uncle’s shoulder.

“We’ll be back much later, I do hope your answer has changed by then.” The young king says coldly. “You best hope your cousin recovers soon Claudia, because your brother won’t be around for long to defend you and may not even come back.”

“We’ll see about that Aric.” Claudia retorts. “We’ll see about that.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Why am I here again?” Soren asks nervously as Opeli led him into the throne room. “Am I in trouble or something? I already got screamed at by Kasef yesterday when I “failed” to convince Ezran to take his side.”

“You’re not, Ezran just wants to talk to you.” The councilwoman responds. “I believe he said something about wanting to catch up with you, and wanting to tell you something he hopes you will relay to your aunt and later your king.”

“Oh, well that’s better than what I was thinking.”

Opeli gives a small laugh. “Still the one with the strangest imagination I see. Don’t worry, Enya, Amaya, and Corvus have already decided you’re safe enough for Ezran to be around. So no need to worry about getting hit by a chain, or stabbed with a knife, or getting bitten in a painful place by a dog.”

“I’m still not feeling at ease hearing that.” Soren mutters to himself as the guards open the doors to let them inside.

Ezran was seated on the steps of the throne, playing with his strange toad pet while the dog Amaya was seated next to him looking quite relaxed while the two guards stood in their usual spots, along with the other council members. At the sound of their footsteps, Amaya gives an excited bark and jumps up to rush over to Soren, nearly knocking him over in the process when she tried licking his face.

“Amaya! Stop trying to slobber him!” He hears her owner call before letting out a sharp whistle that sends the sheep dog running back to her side near the throne. “Sorry about that, she does that a lot - mostly to strangers she’s taken an immediate liking to, and my dad when we don’t see him for more than a few days.”

“No worries, my sister has a bunch of dogs back home who are the same way with almost everyone.” Soren assures her as he kneels so Amaya could walk back to him and affectionately scratches her between the ears and under the chin. “I’m pretty much used to it, smelling like a dog, having my clothes and armor covered in their hair, and having to wash anything covered in their slobber thoroughly. It’s pretty normal when your sister is responsible for helping train the best tracking hounds and sled dogs, though she hasn’t tried training herding dogs yet.”

“Once Amaya actually brought a random herd of sheep into the castle, and we don’t even own sheep!” Ezran laughs as the dog leaves Soren to rush back to the king and nuzzle him affectionately. “It’s in her instincts I guess, she’s gotta keep something in a group, which is what she did on our journey to Xadia.”

“Oh Rayla hated it, she didn’t like having to walk so closely to everyone when we could have been running ahead to scout something and Amaya kept trying to keep us all huddled like a herd of sheep.” The girl laughs before patting her leg to call her dog back. “Forgot to introduce myself, Enya Mulligan, king Ezran’s personal bodyguard and best tailor of the kingdom’s capital. And the tall and mysterious stranger is Corvus, also one of Ezran’s bodyguards, though I think I’m a much better one than he is. And the cute little monster being pampered by our king is Bait, he bites if your hand smells like a jelly tart.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” The man, Corvus, laughs, earning a laugh from the council and Opeli, and an annoyed croak from Bait. “Ignore her, and do be careful around her. She is crazy enough to take on a dark mage armed with nothing but a hunting knife, hence her bandaged arm.”

“Hey! At least I did something to kick Desmon’s ass!” Enya protests, holding up her left hand that was bandaged. “And I saved a dragon that way too!”

“Refrain from cursing, there is a child present.” Opeli scolds as a soldier hurries into the room. “And be on your best behavior, we have guests.”

“Who else is coming?” Soren asks as he stands up.

“Prince Kasef, Ezran has something to tell him.”

“You can stand by me and Amaya, if you don’t want to be within range of him when he has a tantrum.” Enya offers and Amaya barked happily. Soren nods gratefully before hurrying forward to stand next to her.Just then the doors of the throne room opened to allow the prince to walk in, seemingly still simmering with anger from last night. Soren gulps nervously and shuffled back a step, which Enya notices.

“What’s the matter?” She whispers. “You look spooked.”

“I’m gonna get yelled at again, and he’s gonna hit me with something worse than a boot.” Soren whispers back to her nervously.

“Not if we’re here.” He hears Corvus assure him from the other side of the throne. “And I’m sure he’ll ignore you for now.”

“Prince Kasef, thank you for coming.” Ezran says as he stands and moves to sit himself back on his throne.

“Why have you summoned me? Have you had a change of heart?” The prince asks before his eyes wander to where Soren was standing partially behind Enya. “And why is he here?”

“No, but there’s something I want to tell you that might change  _ your  _ heart.” Ezran says with a smile. “And I asked for Soren to come to relay the news to his family and their soldiers.”

“Try me.”

“Some bad things have happened, I know that. My dad is gone, your dad is badly hurt, but there is something that you don’t know about. There is a hope” Ezran says. “This war started because Xadia thought we destroyed the egg of the dragon prince, but we didn’t. The dragon prince is alive!”

_ The egg wasn’t destroyed? _ Soren thinks in surprise.  _ But if it wasn’t destroyed, what happened to it? I suppose I could ask Ezran or his bodyguards for more details later. _

“And he’s really cute by the way.” Ezran adds before Bait sits up to turn around and glare at him, and much to Soren’s amusement the glow toad makes a reluctant face before settling back down on the king’s lap to let him continue. “And my brother is bringing him back to the dragon queen , with the help of a elf named Rayla. When the dragon queen sees her baby, her heart will change. There could be peace again, we just have to believe in it!”

Soren couldn’t help but smile at this news. If prince Callum was able to deliver the dragon prince to his mother, the bloodshed and war between the humans, elves and dragons could stop. Oh he could hardly wait to return to the camp and inform his aunt and the other generals the good news, and maybe this would mean they could go home and he would get to keep his promise to Claudia and his cousins!

“So, what do you think?” Ezran asks as he steps down from his throne to approach Kasef.

“I think you’re a little boy putting his hopes in fairy tales.” Kasef sneers, earning gasps from the others in the room.

“He’s telling the truth! This war will end when the dragon prince is returned to his mother!” Enya snarls as she storms from the throne and pulls Ezran back so she was between him and Kasef. “Have you lost any sense of optimism?”

“I’m being realistic, wench.” The prince retorts. “Unlike your king.”

“Hey let’s not kill anyone!” Soren says loudly as he hurried forward and grabbed Enya’s wrists and pulled them back to keep her from practically striking the prince in his face. “It’s going to make things worse! And we don’t need another Katolian/Neolandian war breaking out because you knocked the crown prince’s teeth out and left a bruise!”

“Oh I’ll do more than knock his teeth out and bruise him!” Enya yells angrily as she struggles. “Damn it let me go you oaf!”

“You don’t need to throw me out, we’re finished here.” Kasef says before turning to walk away. “And I’d keep your bodyguard on a tight leash if I were you, attacking a member of any royal family from any of the kingdoms is considered treason.”

“Okay I think you need to be confined to your room until further notice.” Opeli says once the doors have been shut behind Kasef. “Corvus, can you please escort Enya back to her father and tell him not to let her come into the castle until the armies leave?”

“What?” Enya exclaims.

“It’s for your own good. As Soren said, we don’t need another pointless war with Neolandia.”

“Are we really going to let that brat call our king foolish for something that’s true?”

“Until prince Callum returns with the news of delivering Zym to his mother, no one will believe us.” Corvus explains as he steps forward and places a hand on her shoulder. “I’m just as upset as you are, but we can’t risk this. And on top of that, he has an entire army waiting outside of the castle, along with a few others. Also Soren, can you let go of her? Her wrist.”

It took the young knight a moment to remember her bandaged hand and quickly released Enya, who was still looking quite upset as ever. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her, Kasef kind of took it too far with his blunt and rather rude response to such good news. He was pretty sure at this point there wasn’t even a sliver of optimism left in that guy anymore.

“I should leave, I’ll tell my aunt the news.” Soren says giving Opeli a small bow before turning to Ezran. “Don’t worry, she’ll listen to me more than Kasef, and I’ll try telling the other generals as well. I’m sure everyone will be happy to hear that there is a chance we don’t have to fight and die.”

\---

“Are you sure this is true? The dragon prince lives?” Elda asks her nephew and Soren nods eagerly. “I don’t believe it, how is it possible! Harrow apparently slayed Thunder and his only heir, but somehow the egg survived?”

“I don’t know much about the details, but I can ask one of the king’s bodyguards.” Soren says as he seats himself on a stool. “One of them had to have been with him the entire journey from here to the border, right now his brother is traveling through Xadia as we speak with the dragon prince and an elf.”

“It sounds like nonsense, how can anyone believe this?” Bjorn asks from his corner of the tent where he was sharpening a knife. “I thought the boy king and the prince were still here in the castle, how could they have traveled all the way to the border with an elf?”

“Well I’ll have to ask one of the bodyguards, but one of them is in trouble right now.” Soren responds with a frown. “She almost punched the crown prince of Neolandia in his frowny face, and probably would have kicked him in the worst place ever if I didn’t stop her. She was very furious when Kasef insulted king Ezran.”

“Sounds like something you’d do if anyone insulted prince Leif.” Elda comments and Soren feels his cheeks grow warm. “Well perhaps tomorrow you can speak with her or the other guard. Right now we have to inform the other generals of this, but don’t be upset about their skepticism.”

His aunt was right, the three generals were skeptical after hearing the news. As soon as he was done talking they bombarded Soren with questions that he couldn’t even answer at all because he didn’t know too much about the situation. At least they seemed satisfied when he promised he’d try to get an audience with Ezran so he could explain everything that happened.

The next morning however, something felt very off. When Soren went to the throne room in hopes of being able to speak to Ezran alone, much to his surprise, Kasef emerged wearing a very smug smile.

“What do you have to be so smug about this time?” Soren asks in annoyance.

“Oh you’ll see, soon.” The prince responds smugly. “And by the way, you are being foolish for believing the words of a child who knows hardly anything.”

_ Great, another Aric I have to deal with. _ Soren thinks bitterly as the guards let him inside.  _ Too bad Sigird isn’t here, she’d find a way to shut him up. _

He finds Ezran standing at the window with Bait, looking very worried. Corvus was standing nearby, looking just as worried, while Enya and Amaya were nowhere to be seen.

“Okay the atmosphere is really dull, what did he do this time?” Soren asks Opeli when he approached her. “Sorry for coming in again, I just wanted to talk with Ezran about what he mentioned yesterday. My aunt and the generals wish to hear more about what happened since we were told prince Callum and his brother weren’t even gone when we received the news about my father being a regent.”

“Kasef threatened to lead all three armies against our kingdom if Ezran still planned to stick to his decision in denying them access to Xadia. Said we could show them how strong we could be.” The councilwoman responds and frowns before it melts into a look of concern and she lowers her voice. “We have the manpower to fight back, but will our armies be enough to fight against three other vast armies?”

“I can’t say, and I’ve been hoping we wouldn’t have to fight at all.” Soren says and looks back to Ezran. “You should talk to him, I doubt he’d want to speak with me now.”

“Nonsense, he will still want to speak to you. Just come back tomorrow, we’ll have this sorted out. Plead with your aunt to not fight against us.”

“Kasef holds no power over my kingdom’s army, I can assure you that my aunt will not take up arms against you unless Aric decrees it.”


	10. Chapter 10

“This does not look good.” Bjorn mutters loudly to Soren and points over his shoulder. “Cuz you are probably getting arrested right now.”

“What did I do this time?” Soren asks in annoyance before looking over his shoulder to find three Katolian soldiers approaching. “Oh good, they’re probably here to escort me to speak with Ezran. Opeli said she’d send someone in the morning to get me.”

“Oh so I have to peel potatoes by myself?”

“Yep! Good luck!”

Though much to his surprise, Soren was not expecting to see so many people in the throne room talking to each other in hushed whispers. He caught sight of Enya conversing with Corvus, Amaya staying close to them and had what looked like a rope leash attached to her collar. Well they were the only two people aside from Opeli and Kasef in the room he knew, so he made a beeline for them.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asks when he reaches them. “Also I see you’re off house arrest.”

“Opeli asked me.” Enya responds and gestures to the crowd around them. “I don’t know what’s going on, and why is a big portion of the kingdom in here?”

“Beats me, I thought I was here to talk to Ezran. Is everyone here to hear from him about the dragon prince?”

“You don’t know?” Corvus asks in surprise. “I guess Kasef didn’t go bragging about what Saleer told him.”

“Who?”

“That man over there with the grey and red robes.” Enya points over to the councilmen. “Last night I was taking Amaya out for bathroom time and I overheard Saleer talking to a hooded figure that sounded an awful lot like the prince about how Ezran was thrown in jail and there will be someone else who will be ruling in his place. I didn’t hear who it was, they almost caught me.”

“Weird, I wonder why they’re even talking at all.” Soren mutters before they hear the sound of the doors opening, causing everyone to go quiet.

Much to his surprise, it was his father, walking straight to the front of the room with his strange staff in one hand and a young man who looked about his age wearing a smug expression that was almost as big as Kasef’s yesterday. Who was that, was that the Desmond guy Enya mentioned previously?

“Oh great, creepy mage in training is here.” He hears Enya mutter before VIren launches into a speech about how there will be a new line ruling Katolis. “Great, we’re now going to have a tyrant.”

"Wait!" Opeli yells as she steps forward. "Lord Viren, king Ezran has advocated. But just because he stepped down does not entitle you to take his place."

"Oh? And why not?" Viren asks.

"Because we have laws." Opeli retorts. "Our laws tell us there is a way to choose a new royal line, it's how we've done things for centuries. Only orphans have a right to ascend!"

"My parents are dead, does that count?" Viren asks with a smirk and Soren saw both Enya and Corvus roll their eyes. When the councilwoman didn't respond,Viren took that as the opportunity to continue talking. "Does anyone else here share Opeli's concern?"

Soren looked over at the rest of the crowd, many were looking very unsure of what to do. Should he step up? He probably should.

“Viren you are not above the law!” Opeli shouted angrily.

“I’m afraid you have misjudged the situation, terribly.” Viren says calmly as he walks up to the throne and picks up the crown from it’s cushioned box. “I am the law.”

As he turns to face the crowd while placing the crown on his head, the crowd begins to yell “all hail the king” as they move forward to crowd his father. Soren turns to say something to Corvus and Enya, only to find them gone. Even Opeli was no longer in the room, how strange.

_ Aunt Elda is not going to be happy when I tell her this. She’s going to probably pull the entire army out of this war and - _

“And where are you going?” Soren hears someone say and feels a hand grip his shoulder a little too tightly. Oh great, Kasef.

“I was going to head back to the camp to inform my aunt and the other generals.” He responds curtly and steps forward to get out of the prince’s grasp. “Now if you excuse me, I have a general to break the news to.”

\---

“This cannot be! Who allowed Viren to be king?!” Elda shrieks angrily.

“Ezran apparently stepped down, I still don’t know why.” Soren admitted and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You’re going to want to pull out of the war now aren’t you?”

“Damn right! I do not want to go to war, especially with that man leading us. He called for us to come to war, but you’ve been told there is a hope that we won’t have to do it.”

“I know, but do you think my father knows?”

“Probably not, but who knows.”

“Mom!” The two turn to see Bjorn rush into the tent, out of breath. “Some Katolian soldiers are asking for Soren, the new king has summoned him.”

“Do I have to?” Soren asks with a groan. “I’ve already been summoned enough for today, is it really necessary?”

“Unfortunately.” Bjorn responds. “It’s required right now.”

“Ancients help me.” Soren mutters to himself before turning to his aunt. “I’ll be back, just be ready to pack up the whole camp, leave this place, and just hope Aric doesn’t have our heads for returning.”

“Be careful.” Elda warns. “Leave if you don’t feel comfortable.”

Soren soon found himself being marched through the halls of the castle and not even being taken to the throne room. Instead, he was taken to a room that was apparently his father’s office. Once inside, he found Viren sitting at his desk overlooking some maps with that boy from earlier, both murmuring under their breath and frowning in concentration.

_ So that’s supposed to be Desmond, what’s so creepy about him anyways? _ Soren wonders as he steps forward and clears his throat to get their attention.

“Father, there’s a soldier at the door.” The boy, Desmon, states in an annoyed tone.

“Ah, that would be Soren.” Viren says as he places his papers down and gets up from his seat to walk over to him before putting his hands on his shoulders. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you, how’s Claudia?”

“Uh...fine, she’s fine.” Soren responds, trying not to stare at the weird film thing that was over his father’s right eye or the weird little purple bug sitting on his ear. When did he get that? “We’ve both been doing great really.”

“Good! That’s good!” Vieren says with a smile before Soren found himself suddenly getting pulled into a hug. “I’ve missed you both these past years, I should have fought harder to keep you here instead of moving halfway across the human kingdoms to that cold wasteland with that woman.”

“I...I’ve missed you as well.” Soren says and awkwardly returns the hug. “And...I see you actually have an assistant?”

“Oh that’s Desmond, I adopted him a few months after your mother took you and your sister.” Viren says as he lets him go. “He’s very skilled in the ways of dark magic, though he’s still learning. Think of him as...your brother and not my assistant.”

“I...I guess I always wanted a brother? I mean Magnus and my male cousins were the closest I had to brothers, how old is he?”

“Seventeen, turning eighteen in a few months.” Desmond responds coldly, not even looking up once from his papers. “Tell me Soren, do you know more than just how to swing a chunk of sharpened and molded metal?”

“I can read if that’s what you’re asking.” Soren responds with a frown. “I’m not as smart as Magnus or Claudia, but I’m not stupid either.”

“Now now you two, no need to fight.” Viren scolds. “Damian this is why the children of the castle staff or the princes never liked you, be nice to your brother.”

_ And I can see why Enya doesn’t like him. _ Soren thinks to himself.  _ Speaking of which, I wonder where she and Corvus went after my father was crowned. _

“Oh and father, we still haven’t been able to find those traitors yet.” Desmond says, shaking Soren from his thoughts. “Should I send word for the guards to comb the forest for them and warn other towns to have them arrested?”

“No need, we don’t need to worry about them at all.” Viren responds. “They’ll turn up eventually. Will you be attending the ceremony Soren? It’d mean a lot if you did.”

“Why?” Soren asks in surprise. “What’s this for?”

“To announce to our armies that we will be marching to Xadia tomorrow, anyone who doesn’t wish to stay and fight with us can go home. Simple as that, can’t have any weak links in a chain.”

Soren grimaced and thought back to his aunt. There was nothing wrong with not wanting to fight in a war you didn't think was right, but the way his father worded that felt wrong and awful. He really didn't want to be at that ceremony and have to hear his father talk down to good soldiers for not wanting to stab an elf.

“I’ll think about it.” He finally says. "If I decide to go, I'll come."

"Take your time, there's still plenty of it before nightfall comes around." Viren says and gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "If we don't see you tonight, we'll see you tomorrow when we leave for Xadia." 

_ Doubt it. _

\---

Xadia, Storm Spire

"I don't understand, what's happening to her?"

Ibis released a sight as he looked towards the entrance of the chambers of the dragon queen where his assistant stood. He walks over to stand with her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder in assurance.

"Don't worry about it little crow, she's just sleeping." The mage says, gesturing to the sleeping dragon. "But we have to find a way to wake her soon, we don't have much time."

"We better, otherwise Xadia won't have an archdragon to defend and rule it anymore." The younger elf says with a small huff. "Sol Regem is guarding one area, but we don't have any other way to defend certain areas of the border if all we have are Sunfire elves to defend it!"

"I understand your frustrations Reya, but we must be patient." Ibis states firmly. "We can't rush this sort of work so the queen could get better."

The younger elf makes a face before nodding. "Alright, then we should get to work on waking her up. I just hope we can do that before something bad happens."

"I hope for that as well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter felt a bit short, kind of have a headache right now as I was finishing it


	11. Chapter 11

_ Somewhere In Katolis _

Soren was not too pleased about his current situation in the slightest. Just last night he thought he was going to be riding home with the entire Del Bar army, but nope! Here he was leading several of his kingdom's soldiers with many other soldiers of the other kingdoms and riding alongside his father, brother, prince Kasef and councilman Saleer. How did he get into this situation in the first place?

It had started last night when a group of Katolian soldiers were seen near the camp, Elda inviting them to come eat and asked what they were doing so far from the castle. One soldier, a young man around his age named Marcos, told them that they deserted the army and refused to fight against Xadia.

"I used to not like elves, but the night before our king was killed one had spared me when I stumbled upon her and the assassins." He told them. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. I'm forever grateful that my life was spared,and it feels wrong to want to go to war with them." 

This had spurred the general to gather all the soldiers in their camp and ask which of them wanted to go back home, and which of them wished to go with the other armies to Xadia to fight. Much to Soren's surprise, many soldiers wanted to stay behind and fight alongside Viren, but what startled him more was that his aunt asked him to stay behind with these soldiers.

_ Why did I agree to this again?  _ Soren wonders to himself as he rides behind his father. That purple bug sitting on his ear was really starting to bug him (pun intended) and decided maybe his father hadn't noticed it.  _ How has he not noticed it? I surely would have if it was sitting on my ears. _

He urged his horse forward so they were now riding alongside his father before raising his hand and bringing it down to swat the insect. Much to Soren's surprise, Viren somehow caught his hand before it could even touch the bug. Did he not want it removed?

"Did you not want it smooshed?" He asks when Viren lifts his hand and releases it.

"Do not harm the purple creature." The mage instructs. "It's harmless."

"Uh...if you say so. What is that thing anyways?"

"Think of it as...my familiar. You know what those are, right?"

"Animal sidekicks that witches, wizards and many human spellcasters have, of course I know what that is." Soren says before perking up. "So that means you've adopted a little bug pal?"

His father seemed very annoyed by this, but instead of scolding or correcting him, he simply responds with: "yes, he's my  _ little bug pal _ ." Okay now there was awkward silence between them.

"I'm just gonna ride back here with Desmond and Kasef." Soren says awkwardly before tugging on the reins of his horse to slow her down. Once he was sure he was out of earshot of his father, he leans forward to give his horse a pat on the neck. "Sorry you have to stay with me old girl, I know you wanted to go home too so you could be snuggled up in your warm stable and munch on tasty Del Bar grown oats instead of the tasteless feed you got fed before we left."

His horse gives a little nicker and tossed her head. This whole March was getting boring already, and he was really wishing he brought a book or something to entertain himself with. If Sigrid were here she'd probably try to make a game out of spotting random things starting with certain letters or colors to entertain him and herself, and probably be just annoying Mr. Uptight Britches the whole trip. What was even up with this guy anyways, why was he always so serious?

_ Maybe he's just like this around strangers, if I loosen him up a bit with some friendly chatting maybe he won't be so bad? _ Soren tugs on the reins of his horse to slow her down some more until they were riding right next to Kasef and his own horse. The prince seemed quite surprised to see him no longer riding alongside his father.  _ Alright, let's try a little friendly conversation with a small icebreaker, mom says I'm great with those! _

"Hey man, I'm Soren." He says cheerfully to the prince, hoping he sounded friendly enough for him to open up.

"I know who you are, Soren Askelson." The prince responds stiffly. “All too well.”

_ Okay, that's a start at least. Now for the icebreaker. _

"Right, right. Do I detect a little accent when you talk? Let me guess, you're from that one kingdom, you know the one I’m talking about, uh...Noodleloodlia!”

Okay he knew it was Neolandia, but he was just trying to make the guy laugh. Kasef seemed more annoyed with this and rolled his eyes.

“Ne-o-laaaan-ia.” He tries to correct Soren. Did this guy not know how to take a joke or something? If he was Claudia she’d be doing her loud snorting laugh she inherited from their mother. Maybe he should try again to make him laugh.

“Uh yeah, that’s exactly what I just said. Noodleloooolia!” And that just prompted the prince to frown before turning away, turning his nose up and nudging his horse forward to walk ahead where Desmond was riding. The young mage turns back to Soren with a smirk on his face before turning forward and proceeds to talk to the prince casually. Wow, rude.

“Desmond is at it again, kissing up to the higher power.” Soren looks to his left in surprise to find a female Katolian soldier riding across from him, her eyes settled on the two teens ahead of them with a frown. “Has he no shame?”

“I mean he is trying to be friendly, he’s succeeding where I failed at.” Soren says with a shrug. “The guy seems too stiff to even joke around with.”

“Stick up his butt, that’s what it is.” The soldier responds. "Just ignore him."

"You seem to know an awful lot about him." Soren comments and the soldier shrugs.

"Heard a lot about him from the other soldiers when he first came to Katolis before your kingdom's army showed up, I'm not surprised he's getting along with the creep."

"I keep hearing about that, what makes him...creepy?"

"Bring up magical creatures around him and he'd start listing what body parts could be used to power his dark magic spells, he lurks in the shadows like a creep, and he purposely made king Ezran cry when he was a child by telling him his glow toad can be used for dark magic.”

“Geez...I am so glad I’m not related to him.” Soren says and shudders. “No wonder my dad said none of the kids of the kingdom liked him.”

“Believe me, you don’t ever want to be around him. And he’s so judgemental too about everyone.” The soldier adds. “And now that he’s a prince, he’s going to let that all go to his head.”

“I’ll try to keep him in check then, that’s what big brothers do.” Soren laughs. “You know, you seem pretty familiar, have we met before?”

“Met?” The soldier asks, her voice going a bit higher pitched. “No no! I mean I have seen you around the palace, heard who you are from the other soldiers who had been around you!”

“Huh, well nice knowing you…”

“Daniella, that’s - that’s my name.”

“Soren stop talking to a lowly soldier, you are a prince!” They hear Desmond yell from ahead and look over to see him and Kasef looking back at them, the teen looking very annoyed and the Neolandian prince looking confused. “You are better than that!”

“Desmond that’s rude!” Soren yells back. “Plus I had no one to talk to anyways, the Del bar soldiers are all the way near the back!”

“Who cares! You are a prince, and you better start acting like one! Follow Kasef’s example!”

“Please don’t.” Daniella mutters loudly before giving Soren an apologetic look. “I am so sorry you have to deal with that now.”

“As expected, but at least I had a good heads up about my new brother." He says with a shrug. "You don't have to move back, it's fine."

“I should move back to the other soldiers before mister stuck up mage bites my head off." Daniella says with a shake of her head. "Maybe we'll talk more when we stop to make camp. Oh and a word of advice, don’t let your guard down Desmond, and don’t trust him at all. Good luck with trying to get Kasef to warm up to you.”

Before Soren could even ask what she was talking about, she immediately spurs her horse around to walk back to the other soldiers.

_ Huh, wonder what that was all about. _ He thinks to himself before turning his attention to the front.  _ Well, at least I got to have a meaningful conversation with someone, though she seems kind of familiar. Have I met her before? _ He wonders and scratches the top of his head in thought. He only interacted with maybe...two women in Katolis and neither of them were soldiers - well one of them had a fighting spirit that would probably make his mom proud but she was no soldier.

With a shrug, he urged his horse forward so he was now riding a few feet behind Kasef and Desmond, who seemed to be discussing something boring. Now he was really wishing that Daniella soldier hadn't left.

"Your father...is he talking to himself?" He hears Kasef ask and noticed the prince looking to him for an answer. Soren looks ahead to see his father looking like he was in deep conversation with someone, but there was no one riding besides him. Seemed more like he was talking to the purple ear bug. "Is he okay?"

"Of course he's fine." Desmond scoffs.

"Oh he's probably just talking to his little bug pal." Soren adds with a shrug.

"Bug pal?" Kasef asks in surprise.

"You know, the little purple bug on his ear? He said it's his familiar, I nearly squashed it earlier."

"You did what?!" Desmond gasps in horror. "That creature can't be killed! Are you insane?!"

"I didn’t even touch it, dad stopped me before I could.” Soren points out and frowns. “Dude what’s your problem?”

“You! You are my problem! I have to babysit you to make sure you don’t do anything stupid!”

“No one told you you had to.”

Desmond looked just about ready to snap when Kasef’s horse suddenly got between them. “You two are supposed to be better than this! For ancients sake you two are princes, act like it!” The Neolandian prince snaps. “I’m sure even king Ezran and his brother never fought like this, or the Del Bar royal children!”

“Actually, the twins are always fighting and bickering with each other.” Soren states. “And the two younger daughters are often picking on their baby brother. Queen Ece, ancients rest her soul, used to complain to my mom a lot that she wished her kids were just as well behaved as me and Claudia and got along just as well.”

The dumbfound looks both of them were giving him were pretty funny. And it was true, there was always fighting among the royal children of Del Bar a lot of the time. Soren just hoped that while he wasn’t there to stay by Leif and scold his older sisters for picking on him or flipping rude gestures in his direction, all four of his older siblings would at least bury the hatchet and get along with each other now that they were all they had.

“Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go find my new soldier friend and have a more cheerful talk with her, have fun!”

\---

_ Somewhere Farther In Katolis _

“Oh I really do hope the children are safe, I still don’t think it was a smart idea letting Ezran fly off to Xadia alone.” Barius says as he, Opeli, Corvus and Damian trudge through the woods. “And the fact that Enya is hiding among the enemy army like some sort of spy is really making me worry.”

“Enya and Ezran will be fine, don’t worry.” Damian assures his friend. “Ezran has that phoenix, Bait and Amaya to protect him, so he’ll be fine. My daughter on the other hand, I am just hoping she doesn’t accidentally blow her cover because Desmond said something rude around her and she attacks him.”

“I’m just hoping Ezran is able to reach Xadia before Viren.” Opeli says as Corvus pushes aside a low hanging branch for the three adults to pass ahead of him. “Enya knows that when she reaches Xadia, the moment Viren’s army sets up camp she is to make a run for the Spire and warn Callum and the elf he’s traveling with.”

“You know, I never thought Viren would stoop so low to this.” Damian admits as they stop at the edge of the woods to a road. “In our first month in the castle he was always coming to my workshop to check in on me and my daughter to make sure we were comfortable, and now here I am on the run and marked a traitor by him because I helped our young king escape. Even my own daughter is now seen as an enemy in his eyes because of whose side she stands on.”

“We knew the risks we were taking when we decided to stand with Ezran, and we know it’s the right choice.” Corvus points out. “Besides, it’s much better to stand with someone who wants to end this bloodshed than stand with someone like Viren.”

“Lying snake.” Opeli spat. “I knew something was up when he demanded we didn’t wait seven sunsets to mourn Harrow and told the council later that week that we needed to take action against Xadia. I can’t even believe Saleer of all people, who argued that we didn’t need to go to war against Xadia after the assassins came for Harrow, would even side with him!”

“He was a bit shifty in my opinion, but maybe he thought he’d stand a better chance at being at Viren’s side than standing by the side of a child king.” Barius says with a shrug as they move forward. “So, are we even getting close to -”

“HALT!”

The four stopped walking as several soldiers emerged from the woods on the other side of the wood, many of them dressed in either Katolian or Del Bar armor. The soldiers parted as a woman emerged, dressed in Del Bar armor that looked much different than the others with a dark blue cape lined with fur. Her eyes widened in surprise as she hurried forward to them.

“Councilwoman Opeli! What are you doing here?” The woman asked in alarm. “No wait, I think I know, Viren has marked you and your companions as traitors?”

“Kind of?” Opeli responds and looks to the others for help.

“Who are you?” Damian asks.

“I am general Elda of Del Bar, and as you can see we are also all traitors in Viren’s eyes as well because we decided not to be on his side.”

“And deserters!” Someone in the crowd shouts.

“And deserters.” Elda agrees with a laugh. “I suppose you’re heading to Duren as well? It’s the only kingdom who didn’t send troops to Katolis, and from what I heard is that queen Aanya may have avoided getting assassinated. We’re heading there to ask her to help us stop Viren.”

“We were going over there to avoid getting killed or thrown in jail, but maybe there is a chance if the young queen is still alive she could help us.” Corvus says and looks to his companions. “You think we should all at least travel together? Strength in numbers is important.”

“That would be a good idea, and I was hoping to talk with the queen or her regent in helping us find a way to stop this fight.” Opeli says with a nod of agreement. “Maybe we can reach the border while we are traveling, alert general Amaya and her army what Viren is planning to do and stop him from crossing.”

“Do we have to fight?” Damian asks. “I have zero fighting skills, and if we do get help from Duren I’m not sure if I can be much help in a battle unless you want me throwing needles at soldiers faces, but I still want to help.”

“Don’t worry old friend, I’m sure we’ll find something for you to do.” Barius assures him. “We’ll all have something to do in stopping Viren.”

“Actually, maybe there is something you can do.” Elda says as she waves a Katolian soldier over, who hands her something. “Viren gave these to the deserters as a sign of being a “broken link”, and someone suggested to rebel against that by turning it into a sign of rebellion against him.

Damian takes the item to examine it, a small flat metal piece with a blue background and silver symbols to resemble a broken chain link. He smiles before handing it back to the general.

“I think I can do something about this. I have family in Duren who run a cloth and tailor shop in the capital and a cousin who specializes in making the flags and banners for the castle and the soldiers, I’m sure they’ll be willing to spare a couple of yards of blue and grey cloth just to make a few banners and flags for our little...rebellion group.” He states with a grin. “Oh I cannot wait to see the look on Viren’s face when we show up with these on the battlefield.”


	12. Chapter 12

_ Somewhere In Xadia _

“Wow, this place looks even more amazing than in the books!” Soren gasps as they ride through the bright green fields of grass and tugs on his horse’s reins to halt and hop off. “I’ve never seen this much green since Katolis!”

“Del Bar has no green fields anywhere?” Daniella asks as she stops her horse beside him as Soren squats down near a cluster of flowers to pluck something up.

“Look at these! It’s so cute!” He exclaims, holding up a colorful ball of fur and holds it out to her. “It’s even got a face!”

“What...oh!”

Soren laughs as he drops his arm to bring the small creature back to his life of sight. It was a pretty light purple color with pale blue splotches dotting it’s little body. It made a little squeak as he placed it on the palm of his hand where it began to bounce in place a few times before leaping off back to it’s colorful friends bouncing in the plants where he found it. Oh Claudia would love these, as would Gisli, and maybe Leif as well. Thinking of his family made him feel homesick for Del Bar, for it’s cool weather and kind of muted colors and landscape. This whole place felt too warm for him, even when he removed his fur hood from his armor. He'd probably change into one of his other shirts more suited for warmer weather.

“Soren! Stop gawking at the flowers!” He hears Desmond yell. “You can admire them after we’ve conquered this place!”

“We should go, at least before he or Kasef practically drag us back to the group.” Daniella says as she points back to the marching line of soldiers. “Race you back?”

Soren grins as he quickly darts back to his horse and leaps back into the saddle. Daniella grins before giving and whoop, driving her horse back towards the army with him at her heels. They laugh as they race past the other soldiers before they slow down when they reach a very annoyed Desmond and unconcerned Kasef.

"I win!" Soren laughs as his new friend reaches over to smack his shoulder. "I did!"

"That's bull, I got here first!" Daniella laughs and Desmond scoffs loudly. "I ought to head back, catch you later when we actually make camp."

"You seem awfully chummy with that soldier." Kasef comments once Daniella was out of earshot.

"She's just a friend, and a lot more funner to talk to than you or my grumpy pants brother." Soren says with a shrug, earning another scoff. "No offense."

"We're not here to make friends Soren, we're here to show Xadia that we're not afraid of them anymore, and what happens when you mess with the wrong kingdoms."

"Has it ever occurred to any of you that  _ maybe _ we can actually resolve this war without killing each other?" Soren asks with a frown. "Hasn't there been enough death already?"

"Xadia needs to know what happens when they go too far." Kasef points out. "They nearly killed my father, they killed four other rulers who were also parents to children! Don't you think they deserve justice?"

"Don't  _ you _ find it odd that Xadia went after the other four kingdoms when they have done nothing wrong?" Soren retorts. "I don't think king Harrow deserved to die, but queen Fareeda, king Florian and queen Ece didn't deserve to get killed either. And neither did your father Kasef, but if any of the rulers-"

"Soren!" Soren looks ahead to see his father turning his horse around towards them, looking very angry. Oh boy…

"You're in trouble now~." Desmond whispers in a sing-song tone as their father approached. "You should be afraid, father can be quite frightening when he's angry."

He should be, but he wasn't. Why should he be scared of the man who did nothing but scream and argue with his mother day and night, who didn't even bother to try and keep in touch with him and his sister, who even had the audacity to call good soldiers "weak" because they didn't want to go into a pointless battle?

"I did nothing wrong." He states with a frown. "There's things more frightening than an angry father to be worried about."

\---

_ Del Bar _

"They're here again!" Magnus yells as he bursts into the living room. "Aric sent his sister princess Lella to talk to Claudia!"

"Wow, he really thinks sending my friend to talk to me will convince me to release Leif?" Claudia asked in annoyance, looking up from the game of chess she was playing with her grandfather. Leif was kneeling next to the table and had been watching them play, but now his eyes were on Claudia, full of fear and worry. “Don’t worry, Lella can’t convince me to give you up. We’ll have her and your horrible brother running back to the palace in a few minutes. Gran, can you -”

“Don’t worry, he’s safe here with me.” Ulf responds before gesturing to the stool Claudia had just gotten up from. “Take a seat Leif, I’ll show you how to actually play.”

Claudia smiles as she steps away from her stool, letting the young prince climb on so he was facing her grandfather as he was rearranging the chess pieces to their original places. She immediately heads for the front door, Magnus passing her her mother’s sword before shoving it open. Sigrid was sitting on the porch with Raul, now feeling a bit better to be sitting outside, her own sword laid on her lap as she sharpened it and glaring at Aric. Lella was standing respectably a few feet from the front step, her dark hair pulled back in a thick braid with a leather headband to keep the smaller hairs out of her face and dressed in the thickest fur coat Claudia had ever seen her wear, which wasn’t unusual for her.

“So, what business do you have here?” She asks as she stands on the top step of the porch, glaring down at her friend.

“Aric wants Leif back.” Lella responds bluntly. “I don’t know why he thinks you’d give in easily if I ask you to hand him over.”

“Yeah I didn’t think you’d come here begging on your knees for him to come back.” Claudia agrees with a frown. “Leif doesn’t want to even go home, what’s really your brother’s deal with wanting him back?”

The princess shrugs. “I don’t know, but I think it’s better off if he’s here. Much quieter without his constant sobbing.”

“If your parents died when you were his age you’d be sobbing too. And I do agree that he’s better off here with my family.”

“Lella you’re supposed to be convincing her to hand him over!” Aric yells from his spot, taking a step forward and stopping as Raul gets up from his chair. “And tell your friend to call off her uncle! I don’t like how his finger is on the trigger of the crossbow!”

“That’s the point boy.” Raul snorts and looks to Sigrid. “Sweetheart, remind me why you even dated him in the first place?”

“I don’t even know why either, but whatever.” Sigrid responds with a roll of her eyes. “Just go home Aric, we’re not letting Leif go. And I’d be careful if I were you, the trees are watching.”

Claudia glances at the trees surrounding the path that led up to the house. She knew in some were some of her mother and uncle’s cousins, each with a loaded crossbow or bow and prepared to fire near the prince should he step out of line. A bit too much honestly, but her family was known for being a bit extra when it came to security.

“If you won’t hand Leif over, I’ll have no choice but to order my guards to arrest you!” Aric snarls and Lella rolls her eyes.

“Oh my ancients Aric, just give it up! Even Cira told you it was pointless to try and get him back, he’s better off here with Claudia and her family!” The princess says and folds her arms over her chest. “Let’s just go. Sorry for taking up your time, just tell Leif he’s free to come home on his choice if he’s ready to at least behave himself.”

“Hey Aric, when Soren and my aunt come back, expect a punch to the face!” Sigrid yells as Lella walks back to her brother and their guards. “I can’t do it myself, but you can bet my cousin is gonna break that ugly nose of yours.”

“He won’t be a crownguard anymore if he returns home alive!” Aric yells back angrily.

“Well, that went differently than I expected, in some says.” Raul says as the group walks away and Claudia turns to walk back into the house. “You know, already the entire capital has already heard of what happened to Leif and I won’t be surprised if a revolt against Aric happens.”

“I’m surprised Audin wasn’t here, probably cowering away in his office and screaming at the poor staff.” Claudia adds as she turns to walk back to the house. “You think Soren and aunt Elda will come back?”

“They better, otherwise I’m going after them.” Raul mutters. “I don’t know how much longer we can go on with keeping Aric from taking Leif back by force. One of these days he’s probably going to resort to sending an army at us.”

“Extra much?” Sigrid snorts. “Gosh I hope everything is going okay in Katolis. As much as I want our family to return to help us, I don’t want them coming home to a full fledged Del Bar civil war!”

“Oh don’t exaggerate, it won't escalate to that.” They hear Ulf say from inside the house and turn to see him standing in the doorway with Leif hiding behind him. “By the time our family and the soldiers return, this nonsense will be over. I guarantee it.”

\---

_ Xadia, somewhere near the Sunfire elf kingdom _

Enya knew something was up when Desmond had all four armies gather around the base of a large hill that overlooked the camp, and that she had to move. With all the soldiers distracted and their attention on Viren, who had returned and was now ranting about power, she had a chance to slip away unseen towards the horses. Smoke was already eager to leave, stamping her hooves impatiently and trying to jerk her reins from the wooden post she and the other horses were tied to prevent them from wandering off.

“Shh, it’s okay girl we’re going to leave right now, stay quiet.” Enya whispers as she carefully unties the reins from the post. She hears a soft nicker and sees the two horses Kasef and Soren had been riding watching them, as if expecting her to untie them as well. “No your riders are still here, and you probably don’t want to be running for days on end either.”

Storm gave a soft snort and touched noses with both horses before letting Enya lead her away. It wasn’t until they were several yards away from the camp that Enya decided to mount her horse and move when she heard someone calling her name. Wait, was that Soren?

_ Nope not going to stay and find out! Not today! _

“Daniella wait!” She could hear Soren right behind her before he came into view, grabbing the reins of her horse and giving them a sharp yank to make them stop.

“Let go!” Enya yells frantically, trying to yank the reins from Soren’s hands. “I’m not going back!”

“Well I’m not either!”

Enya stops struggling and looks at him in surprise. “Wait, but I thought-”

“My father, he wanted to use his magic on the soldiers, but he wanted to use it on me first.” Soren explains as his grip loosens. “I refused and he got mad, Kasef offered to take my place and he got turned into this big stone monster that glows. I had to leave, and when I saw you and your horse were gone I got worried! But I’m glad that you actually were leaving, and I want to come with you, we can go back to the human kingdoms!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not going back home, I’m heading to the east.” Enya says pointing in the direction she had stated. “My brothers are already here and I need to warn them and the dragon queen about Viren.”

“Brothers?” Soren asks, looking very confused. “You never mentioned having any brothers.”

“Daniella doesn’t have brothers, but someone else does.” And with that, Enya reached into her shirt to reveal a simple leather necklace with a small pale blue stone dangling from it and carefully removing it from around her neck. She heard Soren gasp in surprise and drop Storm’s reins, now seeing who she really was.

“Wait, Enya?! You were here the whole time?”

“Yeah, I needed this disguise to help me sneak into Xadia and see what Viren was up to. A dangerous task, but surprisingly I wasn’t even caught.” Enya says as she tucks the necklace into her saddlebags and grabs the reins of her horse. “And now that I know what Viren is doing, I can go warn my friends. If you want to go back home that's fine, I'm not stopping you."

"Wait!" Soren grabs her wrist before she could even walk away. "I'll come with you, you'll need someone with survival skills. And who better than a soldier who has been trained to survive the harshest conditions?"

"If you're implying that I can't care for myself, I'm going to prove you wrong." Enya says, yanking her wrist out of his grip. “Just go home Soren, your family has already left for Del Bar and you should join them before you get hurt.”

“No, I’m already too deep in this. And abandoning friends in need is something Desmond would do, not me.” Soren says as he moves his horse to block hers. “Callum was my friend, Ezran may not have been my friend but it’s unfair for me to leave when you need help defending that baby dragon. “I’m coming with you to wherever they are going to be.”

Okay she was wasting precious time standing here and talking to Soren, risking the chance of getting caught if someone noticed they were both missing, but Enya knew he was right. Zym needed all the protection he could get, and the more humans and elves he had to protect him the better. And Soren was a soldier, so having him on their side could be a big help.

“Okay fine, but don’t start fighting with Rayla, the last thing we need is some bad blood between humans and elves in this group.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and happy 2021 everyone!! My apologies for not updating this story in two months, I had been busy with school and kind of had a bit of writer's block with this story, but it's back now! This semester I will not be updating my stories as much, but I'll certainly try writing more to make the chapters lengthier to make up for it.
> 
> Once I reach the final events of season 3 for this story everything is going to be a bit canon divergent, though I'll see about trying to add the canon events of Through the Moon, but after that everything is probably gonna be much different

_ Xadia, Storm Spire _

Ibis was already starting to lose hope. For the past few days nothing he or Reyna could do was helping Zubeia wake up, every method they tried would not work on her. Not even the crazy idea Reyna had of blasting the queen awake with a big lightning spell, which didn’t do anything but make the dragon queen’s mane of fur stand up on end. He had sent Reyna home several days ago, not wanting her to be here when the queen passed away and to probably destroy something in the process out of anger and frustration. He at least hoped she would stay home with their family for a good time while he tried figuring out how to cure the queen. But what could ever cure a broken heart?

_ If my father were here, what would he do? _ The mage wonders as he walks to the small basin in the middle of the room with a cup in hand.  _ He probably would have found a way to cure the queen by now. _

He then heard something outside, what sounded like footsteps. Who could be outside at this hour? Curious, Ibis placed the cup down on the floor and walked out to the entrance. Had Reyna returned with someone? Much to his surprise, it wasn’t his daughter walking across the bridge leading to the Spire, it was a large Shadowpaw with a young human boy walking beside it, accompanied by a little toad creature, an older looking human boy, a young female Moonshadow elf, and...was that a baby storm dragon walking with the children?

“We brought him home, Azymondias, the dragon prince!” The moonshadow elf proclaims and gestures to the baby dragon.

“He’s here to see his mother.” The smaller human adds as he picks up the dragonet from the ground. Ibis couldn’t help but smile. This baby dragon looked exactly like a younger version of Avizandum, save for his wide blue eyes that were clearly from Zubeia.

“It makes my heart leap to see that he lives.” The mage says, putting a hand to his heart before he sighs sadly. He couldn’t hide this news from the children or the little prince, they’d find out eventually when they entered the Spire and found Zubeia in her chambers. “But you’re too late. The dragon queen has not opened her eyes in ten days.”

“But- she’s not…” The older human boy asked and Ibis then realized what he said may have sounded like.

“No, no, she’s not dead!” He says quickly before gesturing for them to follow him into the Spire. “She lives and breathes, but she is not with us.

He leads them towards the chambers of the dragon queen, quietly making note to clear up the empty room he and Reyna had been staying in for the three children to rest. “My name is Ibis, mage of the Skywing elves.” He says, hoping that would put them at ease at least. “When my daughter and I heard that queen Zubeia was ill, we thought we could use our magic and my daughter’s healing skills to help her. Losing her mate and her egg had broken her heart, finally she closed her eyes and has not opened them since. Come, I will show you.”

Ibis led the three children into the chambers before he heard the little dragonet making upset noises and turned to find him standing near the entrance of the chambers with a scared expression. Poor thing looked terrified, and the face he made reminded him of the same terrified expressions he had seen his children make the first time they were learning to fly as children.

“Don’t worry Zym, she’s your mother.” The younger human asked as he walked back to Azymondias and kneels down to comfort him. “Don’t you want to see her?”

The dragonet gives an upset sounding up and leaps into the boys arms, looking towards the chambers with a scared look

“You’re not ready yet, I understand.” The boy says as he places the little dragon down. “We’ll go in first, I’ll be right back.”

_ Poor thing. _ Ibis thinks as he leads the three children into the chambers.  _ He hasn’t seen his mother in...well, never, and he’s very afraid of her. If Zubeia were awake she’d be heartbroken to see her dragonet so terrified of her. _

The queen was still asleep, laying with her tail curled protectively over the mound of grass and flowers where Azymondias’ egg was supposed to be, her breathing loud and sounding a bit labored. The younger human walks up to her and carefully reaches forward to touch her snout.

“Wake up, your baby is here. You have to wake up!” The boy begs as he looks up at the sleeping dragon, as if hoping his words would stir her awake. Nothing happened, leading him to draw his hand back with a sad look in his eyes. Ibis hears the elf leave before the older human boy runs after her, leaving him with the smaller human and the queen.

“I’m sorry, not even talking would work.” He says quietly. “You know, my daughter would spend hours here talking to the queen about random things, like what has happened in our village and what was probably going on now.”

“Where is your daughter?” The boy asks as Ibis seats himself on the grass. “I’ve only seen one elf in here aside from Rayla.”

“At home, I sent her back a few days ago to rest. She had been working herself to near exhaustion trying to electrocute the queen awake, hoping the lightning from her spells would jolt her brain awake enough to render consciousness. And I do hope she stays there to rest, she’s too young to be exhausting herself like that.”

“She sounds nice.”

“She’s hardly the meanest person you’d ever meet, unless you happen to be rude or an annoying boy trying to win her heart.” Ibis laughs. “I haven’t caught your names yet, I am guessing the Moonshadow elf here with you is Rayla, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yep, I’m Ezran, and the boy who ran out after her is my older brother Callum.” The boy, Ezran, states pointing to himself as he sits down on the ground as well. “And the glow toad outside is Bait, he didn’t seem to like Zym that much but now he’s pretty close with him.”

“Well that’s quite nice of him, and I suppose he could use a good friend like Bait. I suppose you all must be tired, climbing up the Spire is quite tiring if you don’t have a pair of wings to carry you.” Ibis says with a nod.

“Do you have wings?” Ezran asks curiously. “Callum said he and Rayla met a Skywing with wings sprouting from her lower back, and I’ve seen in the old storybooks my sister and dad used to read to me when I was little that some Skywings had wings.”

“Oh I do have wings, you just can’t see them.” Ibis laughs. “Yes some Skywings are born with wings, when they’re babies they’re small and frail, like baby bird wings - until the painful growth spurts come along as they get older.”

“That does sound painful.”

“It is, I know a few young Skywings who used to have some painful wing growth spurts as they grew up. Though it’s rather a bit comical when a young Skywing has a set of wings much bigger than themselves and they practically need to be carried to not trip or drag them.”

“That sounds awful.” Ezran says and winces. “I’m kind of glad that I’m not a Skywing. But how do you even have wings? Are they invisible or something?”

Ibis chuckles again. “I’ll show you later, how about you and your companions get some sleep? It’s late and growing children like you need your rest.”

\---

_ Xadia, outside of Storm Spire _

Despite his exhaustion from having to ride for days on end with very little and short breaks, Soren was ready to climb up that mountain. He and Enya had just released their horses into the wild, and now they stood at the base of the large mountain that practically reached the clouds. He had heard stories from his grandfather about the Storm Spire, being home to the great and powerful storm dragons like Thunder, the only few beings who could live in such a place.

“Are you sure you wanna do that?” Enya asks him with a frown as he stretches. “Running up the mountain in armor? I’d abandon it for less weight.”

“Don’t be such a baby, I've done plenty of touch exercises like this up and down mountains." Soren assures her. "I'll be fine! But if you get tired I'll gladly carry you."

"Well I'm taking this off, I'd rather not run up a mountain with armor.” Enya states firmly as she turns away from him to strip her armor.

With a shrug, Soren turns and walks towards the stairs leading up the mountain. At least the storm dragons had the sense to put stairs here for anyone who couldn’t fly up, and there must have been like...a billion steps leading up. Piece of cake, the Del Bar castle had a ton of staircases that he was used to running up and down when he’d do his morning workouts with Leif running after him in an attempt to get the little prince to get some muscle in his legs. And speaking of the little prince, how was he doing right now and how well was he coping with the absence of his parents? And how was he coping without him to protect him from his sibling’s harsh behavior?

“Hey wait up!” Soren bit back a laugh as he turned to see Enya run after him as he was already a couple of steps up.

“You still have the armor on?” He asks and she frowns.

“You could have waited, you know.”

“Well we don’t really have time to strip our armor to make it easier to climb. But if you want, I can carry you up the stairs if you get too tired!”

Enya makes a face. “How about no. I have never been carried anywhere by anyone I don’t know and I’m not about to start it now.”

“Your loss.” Soren says with a shrug. “The offer still stands if you change your mind.”

“Not gonna change it anytime soon.”

\---

“She’s not going to die, is she?!” Soren asks the Skywing mage in panic as they set an unconscious Enya down on some blankets. “Callum used that breathing spell on the both of us, why isn’t she waking up?!”

“Check her arm!” Ezran says, grabbing his friend’s bandaged hand. “A few weeks ago Desmond cut her with some sort of blade in an attempt to hurt me and a dragon, maybe it was coated with some sort of magic spell or poison that didn’t kick in until now?”

Soren sat back and watched as the mage tended to his companion, worry eating at him. Earlier as they were walking up those stairs Enya had collapsed and he had to carry her up the stairs before he collapsed from lightheadedness before Ezran and a big red dragon showed up to carry them to the top and Callum saved them with some sort of wind spell that let him breathe normally again. Enya however, was still passed out.

“So...who are you again?” He hears someone ask and looks up to see a Moonshadow elf standing near him, looking at him warily.

“Soren, I used to know Callum when we were kids, and I traveled here with Enya.” Soren responds as Bait and a small storm dragon he assumed with the dragon prince walked over to him. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”

“Enya? She’s tough, of course she’ll be okay.” The elf assures him as the baby dragon sniffs Soren’s hand before giving it a small lick. “Oh, he seems to like you.”

“It would seem so.” Soren says as the baby dragon gives his hand another lick before bolting towards Ezran. “Ezran told me about the little prince, my family was really happy when they heard the news that we had a chance at peace because he was going to be returned. But then prince Kasef had to threaten to wage war on him, now my dad sits on the throne, and he’s on his way here with an army.”

“Whoa, what?!” The elf exclaims as Callum hurries over. “What do you mean he’s leading an army here? How many?!”

“I’m not sure how many soldiers  _ exactly _ , but he has the support of a lot of Katolian soldiers, a couple of Del Barian soldiers, Neolania’s soldiers, and Evenere’s army. And he’s turned them into these fire monsters with bodies made of stone, not a good look for any of them.”

“Oh no, we’re in trouble.” Callum groans. “Okay as happy as I am that you and my sister are here to help us, there’s no way we can hold off an army of that size, unless you happen to have an army of your own up your sleeve.”

“Well there’s hope that Duren hears of this and comes to help, but we have no clue of what happened to Aanya, we can’t contact the other kingdoms to pull back their soldiers because now they are monsters who listen to no one but my dad, so it’s just us here to protect the Spire.”

“Ibis! Ibis, I’m back!” The three look towards the entrance to see someone rush in, a lone Skywing elf with what looked like wings for warms that were dropping rapidly to the ground. “Oh we have guests?”

“Oh good, Reyna I need your assistance!” The Skywing mage (Ibis, that was probably his name), said looking up from his task, Soren looked over at Enya and winced when he saw her arm was covered in what looked like black veins. “We need to get this out of her, it’s draining her energy.”

“That looks like it needs to be drained, get me a bowl.” The female elf says as she reaches them before looking at the three humans and elf. “You three may need to leave the room for now, this is going to get messy.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” Callum asks as he walks over to Ezran, who was kneeling by Enya and gripping her uninjured hand.

“The sooner we bleed that out of her, the better chances she’ll have of surviving and recovering. Now, all of you, out!”

Soren gets up, picking Bait off the floor and walking towards the entrance of the Spire with the little dragon prince and the elf girl at his heels. Outside, the large red dragon who had carried them up was napping in the sun before it opened it’s bright blue eyes and raised it’s head to look at them.

“We need a plan, we have an army of monsters being led by the worst monster of all and that son of him coming here, how are we going to stop them?” The elf asks when Callum and Ezran exit the Spire. “We don’t know if those mages will help us defend this place, and we have two humans weakened by the journey here.”

“Pyrrah can help, she may not be as strong as an archdragon, but she can put up a good fight.” Ezran suggests, walking to the big red dragon as she bent her head town to nuzzle the young king affectionately. “Enya is being taken care of right now, I’m sure those mages will save here. You will be able to repay her and Rayla later for saving you from getting turned into dark magic stuff.”

“Rayla has a point, we need a proper plan.” Callum agrees. “We need to keep Zym safe as long as possible until we figure out a way to wake up the dragon queen, maybe if she awakens she’ll be able to defend the Spire with our help.”

“Ibis said his daughter already tried that, I don’t think you adding extra lightning would help. Any ideas, Soren?”

Soren looks up to see the three of them and the big red dragon looking at him. “Wait, me?” He asks in surprise.

“Well you are a soldier, you must have some experience in strategies.” Rayla points out. “So, do you have a plan of some sort?”

“Well...I wasn’t so sure what we were supposed to do.” He admits. “I came with Enya to get away from Viren, but I do think we should at least ask the elves what we can do. The army is coming here to probably kill the dragon queen, but we can’t do much on our own to protect her, and keeping the dragon prince alive is a priority.”

“So run and hide Zym for as long as possible, or stay here and defend the Spire?” Callum asks. “We can ask Ibis and that other elf what we should do at least, maybe ask them to help us out in keeping the queen safe? We’ll have to just wait until they’re done with Enya to ask.”

\---

_ Del Bar, Lissa's Home _

“Lissa, you should go to sleep.” Ulf says softly as he pokes his head into Soren's room where the young prince was asleep and his daughter was looking like she was brooding in her seat. "It's late, no one is going to try breaking in to hurt the boy."

"You don't know that." Lissa responds stiffly. "Aric could try sending someone to retrieve Leif."

"I'm sure he's given up by now, we haven't heard from him in days. Just go to bed, you need rest."

"I refuse."

_ She is sounding very much like her mother right now, that stubbornness certainly is genetic. _ Ulf thought with a sigh.  _ And my grandchildren certainly inherited it as well, except for Gisli so far, but that may change. _

"How about I watch over the boy for the night, I already rested enough during the day today." He suggests and Lissa turns to give him a smirk.

"Took a nap today, did you? Old age is already catching up to you."

"Ha, I still got enough energy to wrestle with a banther." Ulf chuckles. "I was just a bit tired earlier and Claudia insisted I take a rest. Now I can't even fall asleep, you however need your rest, even your mother had to rest once in a while when caring for the horses."

"She wouldn't even fall asleep when taking care of a sick horse until you or one of her brothers had to physically pry her from the horse's side."

"Aye, and I'll do the same with you if you don't head to bed yourself little missy."

"Fine, you win this time." Lissa sighs in defeat and rises from the chair she was sitting on. "Just make sure no one breaks through the window, can't be too careful."

"Cautious as ever, just as I was when I was younger." Ulf says to himself once his daughter left and sat himself on the chair next to the bed. 

It had been a long time since he had ever had to sit near the foot of the bed of a royal for security measures, and the last time he did he wasn't even sitting in a chair. Last time it was the young prince of Neolandia when he had come to Del Bar on a visit to speak with Florian's parents about something on the behalf of his ailing mother. The poor boy had been anxious about being away from his mother, worried sick that something would happen to her while he was away, and Florian had offered to stay with him to keep him company. Of course his mother, queen Astrid, had insisted he stay with her son and prince Ahling to make sure they were safe. The two boys had stayed up reading books Florian had borrowed from the castle's library and talking until Ahling fell asleep holding a book to his chest.

_ No matter what, the task of protecting a single member of the royal family always seems to fall on my family. _ Ulf thinks as he gets up to move the chair closer to the front of the bed. Since the day the young prince had came to them for shelter and begging them not to let his brother drag him back, the entire family had been on edge and treating the whole situation the way one would when having to deal with assassins (having multiple people hidden in certain areas leading up to the house, taking turns guarding the front of the house, and even staying up at night to guard the little prince).  _ If Soren hadn't been sent off to fight he would have worn himself down staying up for days keeping Leif safe. _

Ulf couldn't help but wonder if his grandson was alright, being so far from home and not even being sure when he would have to step into a battlefield at any moment. He had never been to Xadia, but he had heard stories of how difficult the terrain was to deal with in even for the most well trained Del Barian soldier with places crawling with poisonous plants that could kill you in ten different ways if you even so much as touched a single leaf, a desert so dangerous to cross during the day and night, and a sea so unforgiving even the most bravest sailors wouldn't dare cross it. Soren was a strong boy, he could deal with nearly any bad situation thrown at him after his years of training, but even Ulf had his doubts about him being able to survive such a dangerous land.

_Ancestors and ancients, please keep my grandson and members of my family who went with him safe, let them_ _return home alive and in one piece._ Ulf silently prayed as he leaned forward to gently brush a strand of hair from Leif's face. _I've already lost my wife and many of my own brothers and sisters to illness and war, I beg of you to let my family come home alive so they could help us keep this poor child safe. I can't bear to lose anymore family or see them suffer from loss. Bring them home safe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways I am really happy you guys really like this story, my take on how the Brodigies lives would go if their mother took them with her, and my take on what Lissa and her family are like since we hardly know anything about them aside that they're alive and living in Del Bar. It really makes my dad getting notifications that someone gave a kudos to the story or left a comment asking questions I am happy to answer, and the comments of everyone screaming or yelling about some stuff. Your support of this story during this pandemic has really been uplifting!


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